Holly Ivy aka Victoria's Daughter
by gempire
Summary: This is my second fanfic, a sequel of sorts to Renesmee Lost, this is a story about the real daughter of Victoria and how she's nearly always making up for her mother past sins. I hope you enjoy. gempire.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: Twilight and all its characters belong to the brilliant Stephenie Meyer.

**This is my second fanfic and it's a lead on from my first, Renesmee lost. It picks up where the last one left off.**

**I had this idea of a vampire who had been born into a Workhouse, was seemingly rescued and then ended up becoming a vampire in her late teens. I decided to give the girl red hair, and then suddenly I thought, what if she was the illegitimate daughter of a misguided rich girl who had to leave the child because of the scandal it would have caused having a child out of wedlock. Then I thought, what if that girl had been called Victoria.**

**This is the story I came up with. The story of Victoria's daughter…**

It seemed that fate had been guiding me to this place for a while now. I knew not why I had suddenly chosen to track down my mother after all this time, but mummy dearest had been calling to me for a long time and like the dutiful dog that I was when it came to that woman, I obeyed.

Human scent washed away with the rain, but vampire scent permeated whatever it touched and remained for years after. To my specialised senses at least. This scent trail was twenty years old, yet here it ended. Could it possibly be that the one who had borne me from her premature womb was well and truly perished?

You see I have a strange power. From scent alone I am able to see what transpired in a given place, even if this incident happened years before. I had followed my mother's colour up to this spot; it had been intertwined with the scent of another vampire, not even a yearling when she brought him to this place, and definitely not her mate for I knew his colour well.

There had been a fight here, I could guess as much, but something didn't seem right. I could sense the colour of the one who defeated Victoria, a male vampire who at the time was ninety years a vampire. He had been protecting something, most likely human but there was no scent left after all these years, most likely he had been protecting his right to feed.

At least I'd smelt his colour all over these mountains.

Victoria had fought this male for a meal, yet the yearling with her appeared to be defeated also, but aside from one incident where the male ripped off his arm, the yearling appeared to be fighting thin air. Why had he not helped his ally when only one obstacle stood between them and what they desired?

I know not how long I remained standing in that place, with the woods behind me and the rock face in front of me, but this is where she had fallen. The scent of the fire was still thick in the air to my sensitive nostrils. But this could not be, who could ever destroy that cold hearted killer?

A scent reached my nose, a strange scent. It was plumb pudding on Christmas day. Toffee apples on the fifth of November. Strawberries and cream in the heat of summer. It was the scent of the sweetest of foods at any time of the year. It was delicious.

And then there was the thrumming, the sound of a humming bird's wings.

The whole sensory assault was moving ever closer to me.

"Hello." A voice as light as a bell said in friendly tones.

I turned to the source of this voice to see a girl in her late teens possibly early twenties looking at me with a wide, open smile. She had creamy pale skin, the type Elizabeth the first would have killed for and just the right amount of blush to her rosy cheeks. Her hair was bronze and framed her heart-shaped face as she looked at me with those soulful, chocolate brown eyes.

She looked every bit the angel, come down from heaven, especially in the simple white satin dress she wore.

"Hello." I ventured, unsure of the creature that stood before me.

"You're new to the area." She all but sang.

"I suppose I am." I conceded.

Who was this girl out here in the middle of nowhere, what easy pray she would make. Yet there was something hidden beneath her scent that warned against this course of action.

"Don't worry, we don't kill nomads here, provided they respect our rules when on our territory." The girl said.

"On your…" Wait a minuet, this girl was talking like a vampire but she was, I sniffed her, she smelt human? Well humanish.

What was she?

"What are you?" I couldn't stop myself asking.

The girl smiled wryly.

"I am Renesmee Carlie Cullen and I am a half vampire." She said smoothly.

It took a while for my brain to process such information, a half vampire? Was that even a possibility?

"Half vampire?" I asked.

"Yep. I'd sure like to explain this to you. But wouldn't you prefer to do this back at home?" The girl said.

"Do I have a choice?"

"That depends weather you wish to hunt in our territory." She said gravely.

"Then I suppose you should take me to your coven leader."

"Come on then." She said breaking into a fast run, but it was easy to keep up with her.

"I'm Renesmee, but you can call me Nessie if you want. Everyone else does, much to my mother's chagrin." The girl said easily, despite our speed, obviously this was the vampire half of her nature showing through.

"Most know me as Holly." I said, not wishing to go into the embarrassing details of my full name at this juncture.

"Holly? That's pretty. Has that always been your name?"

I nodded.

"I was just asking cause some people change their names as soon as they've been vamped." She explained. "Oh, we're nearly there." She sang as the scent of other vampires hit my nose.

One stood out, it had been strong in the clearing where my mother had died.

"Come on." Nessie said in excitement. "Just jump the river and we'll be there."

"Ok." I said, and followed her arc across the flowing water.

"MOM. DAD. EVERYBODY GATHER IN THE FAMILY ROOM." She called out when we reached the other side.

"Come on." She said, taking my hand. "You'll like my family."

And images of vampires danced in my head. But these all seemed to have gold eyes. Gold-eyed vampires? That was strange.

She led me through a door set into the plate glass that was the south facing wall, and into a wide-open area. There were desks along one wall that housed numerous computers; there was a grand piano on a platform over the far end toward the front door. And in the middle of the room stood a group of nine vampires, only one of whom had the traditional red eyes.

Apart from red eyes they all looked at me in shock and fear.

The female of moderate height with the rich brown hair who stood at the front of the group was doing the best impression of a vampire hyperventilating than I'd seen in my too long life, while the bronzed haired male, who I assumed was her mate by the way he stepped protectively in front of her, was looking at me wide-eyed.

"Victoria?" The female gasped.

That would explain their reactions then, they had met Mother.

**That's the prologue, a slight revisiting of the epilogue to Renesmee lost but from Holly's POV.**

**Thanks for reading, don't forget to review,**

**Gemma (:**


	2. Chapter 1 Bleak Beginings

**Disclaimer: All Twilight characters and situations belong to the greatly esteemed Stephenie Meyer; let no one doubt her genius.**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter in no particular order to: Minschen**

** Kate**

** We are humans**

** andwolf**

**Thanks for the reviews on Renesmee lost.**

**Also if you're not here off Kate's advice you should totally check out her stories she writes as .4eva1 and her current story is 'what if things were different?' It's really suspenseful and she's queen of the cliffhangers so you're always wanting more.**

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My beginning was bleak to say the least, nobody knew when I was born exactly, only my mother who for reasons best known to her left me on the doorstep of the orphanage in the freezing bitter cold while snow lay thick upon the December ground. I was found half dead, too cold to cry out when the matron opened the door in the morning.

They took the poor bundle inside and attempted to feed it to bring it back to life, but they had no hope that I would survive the night. Perhaps it would have been better if I had died there in that infirmary, unaware and sin free.

But I survived, and I grew strong and they thought me a Christmas miracle. They called me Holly Ivy as a joke at first, for the festive boughs adorned the crate I was found in, I'm sure they meant to give me a better name later, but as these things often happen the name stuck and so I was Christened Holly Ivy Stephens and I was entered into the nursery. I stayed there until the age of seven when I was deemed big and strong enough to earn my keep at the Workhouse, then my life was truly miserable.

Day in day out toiling away at demeaning tasks that would tire the most active adult while being fed nowhere near enough of the thin watery gruel, and at the same time being told that we should thank the Lord for our work and for our dinner. It was a truly hard life that I wished to escape from, though I wasn't hopeful. Once you were in the Workhouse it was unlikely you would ever escape, boys were sometimes apprenticed out if they were lucky, girls sometimes went to be maids, but this was on the very rare occasions.

I don't know if I was lucky the day I was freed from my forced labour or weather now I see it as the moment that led to my current life, but perhaps I was always fated for this woeful existence and I just happened to have a few glorious years of happiness before this eternal night fell.

It was Easter, a time for new beginnings we were always told. That morning we were awoken especially early and taken down to the laundry, one of the big tubs was already brimming with steaming water. All fourteen of us were told to get into the tub and bathe, this seemed strange to us, wet bodies usually meant ill bodies, not that we didn't wash our hands and faces. They scrubbed us until we gleamed, first with carbolic soap and then with a small white bar that smelt of flowers. They even washed our hair.

We were dried rather roughly by the cadaverous women who often guarded us should we go astray, on hind sight it was most likely through jealousy that they chaffed our skin for they knew what was to be for some of us.

We were given new cotton bloomers and a woollen dress each, it was not much to look at, but better than the usual rags we wore. They gave us woollen socks to put on our feet, and the thing that made us gasp the most, boots. I had never worn shoes before, it felt strange not to feel the rough wood beneath my feet.

They dried our hairs and brushed out the knots, there were ringlets in my flame red hair that glowed in the gaslight now it was free from grease and dirt. They even tied a brown ribbon into our hairs.

Then we stood around in silence wondering what on earth was going on. This was beyond my imagining; all I knew was that we were all of us ten years old who stood in this line.

Then I heard the susurration beyond the door and it was opened by two of the Sisters who stood either side holding the door open as the Matron came in leading a group of people. They stopped near the door while Matron led two old spindly ladies toward us.

"These are all you have?" The one in the hat like a dark fruit shop asked with a sniff.

"These are hall the ten year olds your Ladyship." Matron said, her accent strangely posh.

"Well I guess we shall have to see." Her Ladyship sneered. "Come Gertrude."

"Yes sister." The other old lady said obediently and they began to move down the line.

Gertrude prodded and poked the girls while her Ladyship made comments such as, "Too small." Or "Too stubborn looking." Or the best one, considering the state of her Ladyship's teeth, "Not enough teeth."

Then they reached me, Gertrude pinched my arm as her Ladyship said, "Good muscle tone, all her own teeth, not too scrawny." She seemed to consider for a moment, then frowned. "But I do not like the combination of red hair and green eyes, especially with that pointed chin. It hints at an impish nature if you ask me. I can not abide impish children full of mischief."

"Yes sister." Gertrude chorused as she looked at me apologetically as they moved on.

They settled finally on Jenny, for she was of good size with good teeth and she looked of a docile nature without looking lazy. She was also on the plane side of becoming, so she would not be a fright to look at when guests called, but she wouldn't spend all day daydreaming in the mirror with vain thoughts clouding her mind.

I felt happy for Jenny because she was escaping this place, but on the other hand, was it worth it if she was forced to work for such a sour old lady?

So in groups of two or three the people piled through selecting girls to take with them, always passing me by. Eventually there was only one couple left and four of us girls.

The couple came and stood before me.

"Now isn't she a darling." The woman said in a voice that sounded as though it should belong to a girl.

I looked up and was shocked at her appearance. She had a small pointed face, almost cat like and vivid blue eyes that danced with mischief, the slight slant to them adding to the feline appearance. What captivated me the most was her wild red hair, the same shade as mine, and she wore it loose, as far as I new married women, especially ladies never wore their hair loose.

"What a remarkable resemblance." The man said astounded.

"Hello little girl, what's your name?" She asked.

"Holly Ivy Stephens, Ma'am." I said promptly, curtsying as I had been taught.

"Holly Ivy." The woman mused. "Well Holly Ivy, my name is Victoria and this is my husband Cyril, would you like to come and live with us?"

I nodded my head, of course I would, anything was better then here.

"Then. This is the one we choose." She said to Matron.

"Then if you'd care to follow me Mr and Mrs Stewart." Matron said, leading us out of the room, just as she had the others.

She led us into a part of the Workhouse I'd never been before, it had carpet and wallpaper and actual cushions on the furniture.

"I take it you've brought the requested clothing and the money." Matron said curtly in tones I'm sure she would not have used for her Ladyship. "Only we run off donations you understand and we need the clothes for the poor unfortunates who still live here."

"We understand Matron, we have the clothes right here." Victoria said, handing her a duffle bag.

Matron gave me the bag and said, "Now run along dear, go change behind that screen."

I nodded and did as I was told. Once behind the screen I pulled out some cotton knickers and satin bloomers. There was a soft cotton slip and a lace petit coat as well. The stockings were white silk and had pretty green ribbons to tie at the top. Then there was the dress; green taffeta with tulle lining that would make the skirts ball out. Of course it is only looking back and knowing the names now that I'm able to name them. Back then I just thought it was a pretty princess dress and there was some mistake why they had brought it for me. Perhaps it was so I would look pretty travelling through the city before I was given my maid clothing at their home.

I dressed in my new clothes, marvelling at the little patent leather boots that seemed just the right size for me. Then I folded the Workhouse clothes neatly and carried them to Matron. The last thing I did was to remove the brown ribbon from my hair, I was sure I wasn't supposed to take that either.

Mrs Stewart held out her hand to me and I took it. She smiled down impishly at me and I smiled back.

"Now that everything is arranged may we depart?" Mr Stewart asked.

"Of course sir. She's your ward now."

And with those words I was free of the Workhouse forever, how truly jubilant I felt that day. Easter was indeed a time for new beginnings.

We had a short cab ride to their town house and Victoria held me on her lap the entire ride, stroking my hair as if I were a pet. She even carried me in her arms when the coach stopped, it was merely a blessing that I was a Workhouse child, small from malnourishment or at ten I surly would have been too big to carry.

Once inside she set me down on the hall carpet but took my hand instead.

"This is your new home Holly Ivy." She declared, indicating the luxurious surroundings, "Would you care to see your room."

I looked up into her excited blue eyes and I nodded my head silently.

"Then come this way." She sang, pulling me with her as she ran like a child up the sweeping staircase.

She brought me to a magnificent room, as big as the one that slept a hundred of us back at the workhouse, yet this held only one bed, one enormous white satin draped bed. I walked up to it mesmerised and ran my rough little hand nervously over the soft cool material. The floor was littered with various toys and china dolls adorned a long shelf along one wall.

"But, but this can't be me room." I stammered.

"But of course it is sweet pea." Victoria crooned.

"But ain't it a little fancy for a maid?" I asked, frowning.

Victoria gave a delightful tinkling laugh. "Why my dear, we didn't bring you here to be a maid." She chortled.

"You didn't?"

"No silly, we brought you here to be our daughter."

And those were the words that should have meant that the rest of my life would be lived in comfort, I suppose the rest of my life was lived in comfort. If only my existence had ended there too.

It was in the summer of my eighteenth year and that autumn I would be entered into society as a debutant. Victoria was more excited about it than I was; to be honest I wished that we could live as we had always lived together. With Victoria and Cyril as my parents, and I as the daughter.

However I was getting older and people were starting to call me strange.

I remember that night in great detail for it was my last human memory.

As I'd grown older I became a confidante to Victoria, especially after she'd been at the wine.

We were in the ladies' parlour of our big house in the country, it was where we spent our summers, Victoria was merrily sober having already downed a bottle of the finest burgundy and now she was starting on another.

"You know what?" She slurred. "I'm gonna tell you something you never knew about me. The reason I cant bare children."

I sat obediently listening, waiting for her to go on.

"When I was younger I was what you might call promiscuous, rascally so. I fell in love with a gypsy boy and let him have his way with me. Oh those nights of stolen pleasure were truly divine. Yet I would be the one to pay the price, for I became with child at the ripe young age of fourteen."

I couldn't help but gasp at such scandalous news, yet I felt a strange thrill that she thought she could share this secret with me.

"Indeed." Victoria uttered darkly. "I hid it well, nobody knew, not even right at the end when I ran away to the charity hospital to bear my child. I gave birth to a baby girl on Christmas Eve eighteen years ago. Yet I knew I could not bring the child home for my parents would cast us both to the snow, and the father was long gone, with the spring and the painted caravans." She sighed dreamily. "So I used the only option I had left to me, I would give her to the orphanage. So I wrapped her up tightly in a warm blanket and placed her in an old fruit crate, I remember it had darling little holly and ivy leaves painted on the side, and I put her on the doorstep and rang the bell for the sisters to find."

With every passing word I could feel my blood run colder.

"And so I returned home and my parents acted as if nothing had ever happened, they even managed to secure a good marriage for me." She mused. "But bearing a child at such a young age ruined my womb and left me unable to produce another." She added solemnly.

But I was still fixated on her former statement.

"As if nothing ever happened?" I asked, unable to keep the hiss from my voice.

Victoria nodded her head.

"As if the child had never happened?" I demanded.

Victoria nodded once more she was frowning now, wondering at my sudden hostility no doubt.

"As if I had never happened?" I demanded, rising to my feet.

Victoria went to nod again, but then she looked at me curiously. "What did you say?" She demanded.

"The reason they named me Holly Ivy was because I was found on the doorstep in a crate with holly and ivy painted on it. I nearly froze to death you cold hearted bitch."

She looked at me in shock. "Language Holly." She chastised.

"I was the child you left on that doorstep in the bitter teeth of winter. I was the child who in your selfishness you left to die." I raged.

"Oh Holly!" She gasped, tears in her eyes. "My daughter returned."

"Don't you oh Holly me." I said, backing away. "You didn't care about me at all when you left me to freeze to death on that cold winter floor. You told yourself pretty stories while you selfishly eased yourself back into your perfect existence. As if nothing had happened. Tsk,"

That was when they attacked, suddenly the room was full of people, all beautifully pale with red eyes shimmering in the firelight.

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**Please review,**

**Thanks, Gemma :)**


	3. Chapter 2 The Cullens

**Disclaimer: Twilight is the creation and property of the brilliant Stephenie Meyer.**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Minschen, thanks for the review and the get well wishes (:**

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**The present…**

"Renesmee, get away from her now." The urgent terror of that voice snapped me from my reminiscence.

The strange vampire-girl Renesmee looked at me curiously, a frown playing about her forehead as she moved slowly toward her family. As soon as the strange being was near them they closed ranks around her, ensuring that she was toward the centre and back of them all. It was the most protected place she could be. Surprisingly they moved the red eye to this safe place also, perhaps it was because he was a newborn, little over two months a vampire.

Apart from Renesmee and the young one the vampires were regarding me with cautious hostility, which surprised me for surely they knew Mother was destroyed. Not even she could come back from that.

I sighed and dropped my head, "I see you have met my mother." I said despondently.

The brown haired female glared at me. "What trick are you trying to pull now?" She demanded.

"Honestly, I am not Victoria, I merely look like her because I am her daughter." I said calmly in what I hoped were convincing tones.

The brown haired female looked at me doubtfully.

"She's telling the truth love." The bronze haired male said in calming tones as he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her on top of her head.

The hair was the same colour as that of the strange vampire child, perhaps he was her father, but how could that be? His scent clearly marked him as being well over a hundred years a vampire, the girl was little more than nineteen as best I could judge, was it possible for a vampire to father a child? In my two hundred years I'd never heard of such a thing and I have travelled far and wide.

"What do you mean?" The brown haired female asked with a frown.

"She's not Victory, her mind is entirely different, believe me, do you think I would allow her this close if I was not sure?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

She looked dazzled for a moment and then smiled. "Of course." She said. "So she really is Victoria's daughter?"

The others visibly relaxed at these words, strange that they trusted his words so readily, especially considering their original reaction to me. They relaxed but did not move from their positions so Renesmee and the newborn were still the most defended. They had accepted that I was not Victoria but hadn't decided if I was a threat or not.

"As far as I can glean." The bronze haired male said, looking back at me. "You are Holly Ivy Stephens." He said calmly.

"How is it that you know this?" I demanded, _perhaps Victoria divulged some secrets before she was destroyed, what has she told them of me?_

"She told me very little." The bronze haired male said. "I'm a mind reader, forgive me, I sometimes get carried away when I am agitated." He added in a velvet smooth voice.

"A true mind reader?" I gasped, "I hear that the talent is quite rare."

"Not that rare." The red eye muttered.

"Masen is a mind reader too." The bronze hair explained.

_So the newborn's name is Masen, so that's two names I know at least._

"Oh, how rude, please forgive us." The bronze haired male said aghast. "I am Edward Cullen and this is my wife Bella." He said, indicating his mate. "I believe you've already been introduced to our daughter, Nessie."

I nodded my head.

With his introduction the others relaxed even further, moving out from each other into a light grouping. They all gave off an air of friendship now that they were sure that I was no threat to them.

The golden haired gentle looking man and the motherly brown haired woman with the sweet face came forward, they looked the oldest out of those here, and the man smelt the oldest, he was probably the coven leader.

"This is my father Carlisle." Edward said, indicating the golden haired god. "And my mother Esme."

"Welcome to Forks." Carlisle said shaking my hand.

"Yes welcome dear." Esme said, hugging me as if I were an old friend.

"Thank you." I replied as I hugged her back uncertainly. I wasn't used to vampires being affectionate to those outside of their coven, I was expecting any minuet for her to turn the hug into a crush, but this did not happen, she merely stood back and smiled warmly at me.

_Why couldn't my mother have been like her?_

"This is Emmett and his wife Rosalie." He said, indicating the big bear like man with black curls and the tall exquisite blonde who looked as if she should be on the Paris catwalks, not in a hidden little town like this.

Emmett was grinning widely in a welcoming manner while Rosalie watched me with narrow eyes, still suspicious of my intensions no doubt.

"This is Jasper and his wife Alice." He said, indicating the tall lanky blond with a thousand war wounds visible on his neck, how many battles had he seen to earn those gruesome marks? Alice was the small pixie girl with the spiky black hair who was grinning widely as she stood next to her gently smiling mate.

"Well I didn't see this one coming." Alice remarked, and this drew laughs from the others, although I didn't quite see the joke myself. "Thanks a lot Nessie."

"Sorry Auntie Alice." Renesmee said, grinning unrepentantly.

_What had the girl to apologise for?_

"And this is Masen, the newest member of our family." Carlisle said, indicating Masen, the other mind reader.

Masen smiled at me and pushed his messy blond hair out of his eyes. "Hi." He said with a little wave.

"Hi." I replied, smiling back at him.

"You're the first Nomad I've met." He said, shaking my hand.

I smiled again, funny how it was hard not to smile at him.

"Would you care to sit?" Carlisle asked as he and the rest of the other Cullens moved around to sit on the sofas.

I followed and sat in a fairly comfy armchair that gave me a good view of all of them.

"So what brings you here?" Carlisle asked in a friendly manner, it was true curiosity not annoyance at his territory being breached that drove his question.

"I was tracking someone and the trail ended here." I answered lightly.

"So you are a tracker." Carlisle stated intrigued.

"Of sorts. Scents to me are like colours and everyone's colour is different, especially those of immortals. When it comes to the scents of immortals I can smell them for up to fifty years even more when I know the scent, after they have passed through the area. Sometimes I can almost see the incident in my head as if it is happening at that moment, however if the scent is of an unknown I must use my imagination of how they look." I said, pointedly looking at Edward, for now I had time to identify their individual colours I knew who had destroyed Victoria.

"Who were you tracking? Was it on behalf of someone?" Carlisle asked.

"No. This was purely a personal errand, I was searching for Victoria." I said lowly.

"You were?" Edward asked, sounding a little guilty.

"Yes. About twenty years ago I had this strange notion that I should meet up with my mother once more, that she required my assistance. I went to the last place I knew her to be and picked up the scent from there, it was a thirty-year-old scent. I have been tracking her now for the last twenty years, she had been here before, came back before going to Seattle for a couple of months, then returned only to meet her demise." I took a breath and looked Edward strait in his gold eyes. "Why did you feel the need to destroy my mother? Was it simply over protecting what I assume was a human? Was it to protect your food?"

The temperature in the room seemed to plummet and Edward issued a low hiss.

"I was protecting my mate." He said darkly.

I frowned, was it possible that I had got it wrong? No there were definitely only three vampires in that clearing and only one of them walked away.

"I could have sworn it was a human that you were protecting, the scent is long gone."

"Yes, I was protecting a human, I was protecting Bella." He said, indicating Bella.

"Forgive me." I said, grabbing her hand and sniffing it. "You were made vampire a couple months after the scents in the clearing. So you were what he protected. A vampire in love with a human, how could you stand to be around her for so long without giving into temptation?"

"Because I love her." He said simply and without a trace of irony.

"You were protecting the girl you love, I understand why you faced the both of them. Why was Victoria after her in the first place? Was she that irresistible?" I asked, trying to ascertain the reason my mother would go all out against one human girl, even going so far as to die for it.

"To me she smelt like the most delicious thing you could imagine, to others not so much."

"Then why did she risk her life to go after one human girl?" I voiced my question aloud.

"Because we destroyed James the year before and she had a vendetta against me personally, she wanted to punish me by taking away what I loved the most." Edward answered quietly.

"James is dead?" I asked astounded, hardly daring to believe such a thing possible.

I felt a shameful thrill at the thought that monster was dead. How long had I wished for his demise for all those decades I was enslaved to him?

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Thanks for reading

**Gemma (:**


	4. Chapter 3 James

**Disclaimer: Twilight is owned by Stephenie Meyer, let no one doubt her genius.**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my little brother Ben, the bestest little brother in the world (:**

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I had been twenty years a vampire when I first met James, or I should say when I first remember meeting James. I had spent my early vampire years quite contently with my little coven in London, but now I was growing restless. I was immortal, yet here I was still haunting the town where I grew up, although the part of town we inhabited was considerably different to the haunts of Victoria and Cyril.

I was loathe to broach the subject, I felt my coven siblings would turn against me should I show a desire to leave. It took me a whole year to pluck up the courage to mention my desire to wander to Eros, but when I did I wondered why I hadn't done it sooner.

"Of course my precious Holly." He said, placing his delicate boyish hands either side of my face, "We all develop this urge sooner or later, in fact most develop it a lot sooner. Go, see the world and once your wanderlust is sated then come back to us."

"Are you sure about this Eros?" I asked, looking into his bottomless red eyes.

"I will miss you when you are gone, we all will, but this is something you must do. If we hold you here when you wish to explore you will only come to resent us. I would not want that." He whispered, and kissed me lightly on the forehead.

"I would never do that." I gasped at such a notion, how could I ever hate my kin?

"I know you wouldn't dear." He assured me with a smile. "Now go love, before the others convince you to stay."

I nodded and rose to my feet and made my way out into the dark and dingy streets. I pulled my tatty grubby shawl closer around me, it was supposed to be cold, but the weather didn't affect me. I moved swiftly through the night time purveyors of street life, the thieves and the whores all looking to make a little money from the foot-traffic that drifted through the docks, despite their reputation.

I decided that first I would change my garments, my lady of the night costume I wore now was all well and good for the dark streets of East-London, but who knew where I might end up, I would like to give the air of a lady, which I was, technically, had I not been born out of wed lock. I stopped still in the street, how strange I should think of my mother now, I had not brought her to mind these past twenty years. A ragged spindly old man approached me, I recognised him as the master thief in charge of training young boys to be pickpockets as he was too arthritic to do the thieving himself these days.

I turned a glare on him as his hand inched closer to my purse.

"Evenin' miss." He said, removing his grimy shapeless hat.

"Good evening." I said coldly.

He smiled and shambled off, rotten pickpockets, if it weren't for the fact that I was shopping tonight I would have feasted upon him merely for the annoyance he had caused me. However I was shopping tonight and I needed to find somebody with the same build as me, and a slightly more up-market dress than the rags I wore.

It didn't take long to track down the perfect match, the girl was around the same size as me but the clothes she wore were better than mine, although they were not of a standard a lady would where, I fretted not, for it had been over ambitious of me to set my sights on lady's garb.

I followed her into a dirty narrow, rat-infested alley that she walked along quickly. Half way along I was behind her, one arm around her shoulders, one hand over her mouth, with my teeth in her throat. I drank quickly holding her so that she wouldn't thrash about, I didn't want to get blood all over my new dress.

When her heart finally gave out I slung the body over my shoulder and leapt up onto the rooftops. I raced across them until I found a quiet fairly clean place that I could swap our clothes in peace. Once I had changed into the soft woollen grey-blue dress I dumped the body in the river, she would most likely be ruled a suicide, and made my way to the nicer part of London.

I stood in the middle of the street, I had decisions to make.

The wanderlust clawed within me but I didn't know which direction to go. I sniffed the air around me, picking out the living scents from the lived-in scents. It was the west that called to me, and so I headed in that direction.

Once I was outside of London and free of any witnesses I began to run flat out, I kept up this pace easily, by morning I had done a good three hundred miles, then I was forced to seek shelter for the day as the greying sky revealed itself to be mercilessly free of clouds. Damn British weather, you could never rely on it.

I found a pile of rocks with a hole just big enough for a person to squeeze into, especially if that person could reshape the rock if she needed to. So I spent my day hidden from view, wishing I had brought a book with me so I had something to pass the time.

As dusk fell I emerged from my hidey-hole and sniffed the air again, yes, it was still the west that called me. An hour later I stopped in a cramped village that seemed to impossibly exist on the side of the hill. In the valley below was a coal mine and on the opposite hill was a dark tump, unwanted rubble from the ground below.

I was in Wales, this was a Welsh mining town, grown up here where only sheep had lived before, as the men dug into the rich coalfield to retrieve the black marvel that fuelled our Empire to greater goals. A lot of these towns were wild, the order having had no time to insert itself into the hectic lives of the miners. A lot of young men arrived in these towns every day looking for work, no one would be any the wiser if one two disappeared. This seemed a good a place as any to hunt.

I sniffed at the air, ready to pick out my prey from scent, that's when I smelt them. There were two of them, they had that sweet smell that marked them as immortals. They must be a courting pair, I concluded off the fact that one was male and the other female. If there were two vampires here then I would have to seek them out, perhaps they had claimed this land for their own hunting range. If this was true then I'd have to seek their permission to hunt here, and if not I would have to move on. But I was a Nomad now so I would have to get used to not feeding when I felt like it.

I followed the scents along the lip of the valley, down toward the river they split up, I decided to follow the trail of the male around an outcrop of rocks and down a perilously steep banking, and if I were human I would not have managed this.

As I drew closer to the source of the scent I could sense the anticipation, smell the added timbre that the thrill of the hunt added to his scent. He was hunting, I hoped I didn't upset his dinner plans.

The scent led into a work shed where the scent of the male and the female hung around thickly, they had spent a lot of time around these old sheds. Throughout the churning cloud of their vivid green and red scents curled a thin ribbon of drab grey. This scent was human.

I could hear muffled cries coming from within the shed, but I knew this was because my hearing was sensitive, had I been human I wouldn't have heard. I moved cautiously toward the sheds, the only way in seemed to be through the goods window high up in the wall. I leapt the distance easily and pulled myself through into a darkness that was rich with the smells of sawdust and varnish.

"Please, what do you want?" A girls voice drifted up from the work floor below, twisted with anxiety.

"What do you think we want?" A man replied in a cool calm voice.

"I don't know!" The girl stated, the tears thick in her voice.

I edged slowly over to the balcony rail and peered down at the scene below. There was a bright circle of light where a girl sat slumped on the floor. Outside the circle was completely black, mirrors had been used to direct all the light into the circle to ensure the girl couldn't see her tormentor. I could make out nothing in the darkness, even with my keen vampire eyes, the set up was perfect.

"You followed me for a reason you sinful girl." The man continued, there was amusement evident in his voice now, and his scent thronged with excitement.

The female was also down there, although she had said nothing as of yet.

"No I didn't." She gasped.

"Oh yes you did. I saw you watching me with those lust filled eyes, just as you watched all the other pretty boys."

"I didn't, I didn't look at the boys." She said in despair.

"Oh yes you did." The man whispered, and now he was right by her ear.

The candlelight glowed warmly off his short-cropped brown hair and also lent false colour to his vampire pallor. How had he moved so fast?

"I didn't do it, I didn't." She wept, already too terrified to react to his being so near.

"Oh, it's nothing to be ashamed of." He said, stroking back the girl's dark hair from her neck. "All the girls look at the pretty boys, just not all girls go further."

"What?" She gasped.

"You know of what I talk." James crooned.

"I didn't do anything, I'm a good girl, I didn't do anything." She cried.

"Really?" The man asked, straitening up.

The girl nodded her head vigorously.

"Well that's not what young master Hywyl had to say." He said absently, examining his nails.

"What?" The girl asked shocked.

"Shall we ask him?"

A third figure entered the circle of lights, this one stumbled over a candle, knocking it to the floor as he himself slumped down next to the frightened girl. His hands were bound and he'd been gagged and his face was swollen as I he'd been in a fight.

"Hywyl!" The girl cried in despair and removed the gag from his mouth. The boy looked up dazed at the girl, "Anwen?" He murmured.

"Ah young love." The vampire sneered.

The girl looked up at him, anger flaming in her eyes, she no longer looked afraid, she was angry.

"What kind of monster are you?" She demanded.

"I'm no monster." The vampire said serenely. "I am god's angel, here to punish those who break His laws."

The girl continued to glare.

"You lay with this man when he is not your husband. That is vile, evil and rude." He put his head on the side for a moment, as if thinking something over. He left the circle of light. "As are eaves dropping." He growled in my ear.

I didn't have time to react before I felt him push me over the rail. I fell through the air and landed flat on my back in the middle of the circle of light. I was stunned for a moment, not because of any physical injury, I was a vampire, that fall had been nothing, it was simply the suddenness of the attack.

"Are you here to kill steel?" The man demanded as he landed near to me. "Foolish little girl." He hissed as I rolled back onto my feet.

I dropped into a fighting stance ready to protect myself, although I didn't know how, my coven had been big enough as not to worry about others wanting to take our territory, fighting was unnecessary.

_God, I wish I knew how to fight!_

"James stop, she is not after your food." The female spoke from the shadows, "She was merely curious."

My mouth dropped open as that voice seemed to speak to me across twenty years and through fuzzy human hearing.

"Victoria?" I gasped.

"Who else my pet?" She crooned, stepping into the light.

"You know her?" The man, James demanded.

"Of course I do my love." She said, taking hold of his arm and stroking his cheek but not taking her red eyes off me. "She is our daughter."

"Our daughter?" James asked frowning at me.

"Yes sweetheart. You remember back to that magical spring when we were both human. Remember our brief liaison on that cold March day when we sheltered in the summerhouse from that brief rainstorm. We were both soaked to the skin, how I shook when I removed my dress to put it near the fire to dry. Then you took me in your arms and we were cold no more."

A look of delightful reminiscence crossed James's face. "Yes, I remember."

"Nine months later Holly was born, I had to give her up for obvious reasons." Victoria replied, sounding genuinely repentant. "But I adopted her when she was ten, not realising that she was truly my daughter, and now fate has brought her back to me again. To both of us."

James and I regarded each other cautiously, so I now knew the face of my father, did I really wish to meet him? For that matter did I really want Victoria back in my life? Sure she had been good to me as a child, but immortality appeared to have made her cruel, if this set up was anything to go by. Or perhaps it was James influence?

Who knew? I for one didn't, all I knew was that every fibre of my being was telling me to run away.

"My daughter?" James asked, a smile playing about his lips.

Victoria nodded in encouragement.

"Then I am the father." He conceded.

"Of course you are dear." Victoria replied.

"If I am the father then I must provide for my child." He turned to look at me with a generous look on his face. "Eat." He commanded, pointing down at the boy and the girl, the foolish humans had made no attempt to escape.

"I ate only yesterday thank you sir." I said quietly, the girl was looking at me pleadingly, it was off putting.

"You will eat when I tell you girl." James growled.

"James." Victoria scolded lightly. "Now come on Holly dear. Daddy has gone to all this trouble to find these lovely young morsels, the least you can do is show gratitude by feeding."

"Yes Mother." I sighed, I knew I wouldn't win in a fight against Victoria, she could always think around me.

I knelt down next to the girl.

"Please." She gasped as I took hold of her shoulder and pushed her head to the side.

This seemed odd, to feed on someone who knew death was imminent, most of my victims I took by surprise. I looked into the girl's dark eyes, they were frightened once more.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. I'll make it quick. I added in my mind and darted in and bit.

I drank quickly until she went limp in my arms and her heart stopped beating.

I dropped her to the floor then reached out blindly for the youth.

Something slapped my hand.

"Now we mustn't be a glutton." James scolded. "The boy is for your mother."

I stood up wiping the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand as I watched Victoria set to work. It was a feeding frenzy. One bite was never enough for Victoria, she bit him numerous times, her venom causing more pain, feeding her desire to torture as she fed.

She stood up and grinned at me, looking every bit the demon with her hair glowing blood red in the candlelight and the blood staining her mouth.

"Delicious." She breathed, snagging a handkerchief from the boys pocket and wiping her mouth and chin with it. "They taste so much better when they're scared." She gave a girlish giggle before almost leaping into James's arms and they shared a long passionate kiss.

I stood there not knowing what to do.

They broke apart, their eyes hungry for each other, but then they seemed to remember me. They turned to face me, not breaking from their embrace.

"Yes. Having a daughter will be useful, she will be our lookout on hunts." James conceded.

"I knew you'd like her." Victoria whispered, kissing his cheek.

"Come Holly, we must away from here before the humans turn up." James said, turning to leave.

"But should we not clean up first?" I asked, looking around at the scene of carnage, what would be made of this?

James smirked. "You are a wise daughter." He said. "But there are ways to clean up, and then there are ways to clean up." He said, holding an oil lamp.

He tore off the glass top letting it shatter on the floor, then he threw the contents over the bodies.

"Come Holly dear." Victoria said, taking my hand and leading me from the circle.

I watched mesmerised as James picked up a candle and threw it onto the oil-soaked pair. The fire quickly caught and began to spread quickly though the wooden building. I gasped in panic and rushed outside James and Victoria were at my side.

We ghosted up the hill and till we were high above the sleeping village. Down in the dark valley a red glow was beginning to grow and smoke rose into the night. I could not believe this, it was one thing to kill humans through necessity, but quite another to torture them beforehand and then destroy public property? How many men would lose there jobs because that shed was no more.

"See child." James said, putting an arm around me. "Stick with Daddy and everything will be fine."

I shuddered, perhaps it was in premonition of what was to come in the next sixty years. If I'd known I would have ran away that night and never looked back.

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**Thank you for reading,**

**Gemma (:**


	5. Chapter 4 I Could Care Less

**Disclaimer: The great Stephenie Meyer owns everything to do with Twilight.**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my sister and my two lovely nephews.**

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**The Present…**

"James was your father?" Edward exclaimed aghast.

I shrugged, "Who knows for certain. Victoria said he was, but perhaps it was a fantasy of hers. She enjoyed concocting her little stories."

I looked around the room at the Cullen family, at their differing expressions at this new bit of news. It made me feel that I had a new black mark against my name, especially from Bella. However Carlisle looked at me with pity, as if he felt sorry for me that I should be the offspring of such a pair.

_What had they done to this coven to leave such a lasting mark?_

"I couldn't care either way if he were my father or not. Who knows how different he would have been had I met him when he was human, but I did not. To me he was a cold calculated killer who enjoyed torturing his victims as much as the taste of the blood. He scared the life out of me." I added the latter with a shiver.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Victoria on the other hand was absolutely besotted with him, if you were responsible for his death then I have no doubt she would stop at nothing to make you hurt as much as she did." I conceded.

I looked around the room again, noting how they perceptibly changed their mood toward me yet again. They still didn't trust me fully, these strange gold eye vampires, they saw me too much as Victoria no doubt.

"Why did you kill James?" I asked.

"Because he was after Bella." Edward replied softly.

"He left us no choice, our pact with the Quileutes mean that we can not let vampires hunt anywhere near Forks, James was fully engaged in this activity, not to mention the fact that we already considered Bella a part of the family. If there was any other way we would have taken it, but he left us no choice." Carlisle said in a voice genuinely full of remorse.

"I understand." I assured him. "I know well how James was when he set his mind on something."

"So you must have witnessed him hunt often?" Jasper asked steadily.

"On many occasion, I tried not to be there when he finally made the kill, but most of the time it was hard to disobey him." I whispered, visions of the many scenes of destruction I had witnessed at his hand danced in my head.

So many different occasions that he had proved to be a monster, time and again. Yet I couldn't bring myself to leave, it was only after sixty years that I managed to accomplish this.

Isn't it strange how one event could give you the courage you need to do the right thing? It doesn't have to be a big event even, almost indistinguishable from all the rest, but for some reason it was the one that sickened me the most…

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**I know, short chapter, but I want to keep the past and present separate.**

**Thanks for reading, please review,**

**Gemma (:**


	6. Chapter 5 Why I Left

**Disclaimer: Twilight is owned by the fantabulous Stephanie Meyer.**

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to Minschen and Merina 2, thanks for the reviews guys, they always make me smile (:**

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It was nearing the mid 1920s at the time. After travelling Europe for forty years we had finally made it to the New World twenty years previous. James and Victoria loved the wide-open country where they were able to hunt to the full extent of their abilities, while the crowded cities offered them so many little nooks and crannies in which to carry out their twisted games.

I followed them through all of this in an almost dream like state, I had learned long ago not to answer back to James. A few times I had ran from them, but James was a brilliant tracker and I'd been severely punished when he caught back up with me.

I was their servant now, there to be their look out when they had a particularly elaborate game in mind. Not that it would matter if a human caught them in the act, the poor unfortunate would become the dessert. However, I got the impression that other immortals would take exception to the method James employed, he liked to let his victims know he was coming for them. It made the whole chase worthwhile.

It was the mid nineteen-twenties and we were in Boston, scouring the town for a likely candidate for James's next game when he suddenly stopped still as stone. Victoria and I stopped also and looked at him startled, James had never done anything like this before.

Nothing moved but the quivering of his nostrils as he sniffed at the air. I saw as the hunger hardened in his eyes and he grinned widely.

"Can you smell that?" He asked.

I sniffed at the air, there were myriad human scents here, but nothing that seemed out of place.

"There are a lot of humans here." Victoria remarked blasé.

"No. There is a particularly delicious scent, oh how that blood must taste. Something to be savoured I think." He said in an almost dreamy voice.

I sniffed at the air again, there was one scent that stood out from the uniform grey, it had a slight silver sheen to it, but it wasn't that much different from the other scents. I had no idea why James was so fixated on it.

"Come on, we must find its source." He declared and began to follow the trail.

Victoria and I exchanged glances, this was a change of tact for James. Usually he chose his victims from the look of them before deciding if he liked the scent or not. To follow this scent and not know what waited on the other end was a very foolish idea indeed.

We followed James regardless, the trail was leading toward the tall grey gothic building that was surrounded by trees and a high wall with spikes on the top. I became even more agitated when a bright silvery blue scent began twisting through the drab human greys.

I sniffed at it again to try and get a better read on the vampire we were approaching. It was a male vampire, well over five hundred years since his heart had stopped beating. I had a bad feeling about going in here, this was his place, that was certain, there were no other vampires around here, and perhaps he killed them.

Perhaps he would kill us?

"James, I'm not sure about this." I said timidly, as he eyed the wall critically. "There is a vampire here. I think he lives here."

"Don't be silly girl. This is a place for humans." He snapped.

"For mad humans." I pointed out as I noticed the sign which read, Shady Hill Asylum.

"Even better, we can work here in the open without fear that others will believe them." James said with a smirk, then he leapt the wall.

"Come on Holly." Victoria snapped and leapt the wall also.

I sighed and followed them over, keeping track of their scents as they twisted through the trees. Beyond the thin stand of trees was an overgrown, leaf strewn lawn that led up to a gravel court yard, James's green and Victoria's red headed in a beeline for the entrance. I followed quickly, but slowed when I neared the building, the sparkling blue scent was thick here, this was clearly the vampire's domain.

"We really shouldn't hunt here." I said in a worried voice.

"Hush now Holly dear." Victoria crooned, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I have to have that blood." James growled.

"OH NO! HELP! THEY'RE HERE! THE DARKNESS HAS COME! HELP! HELP!" A female voice shrieked from inside.

There was the sound of doors slamming. "Enough Mary." A matronly voice scolded, "You'll wake the others, do you want to spend the night in solitary."

"But they're here, they're here. I can't see them, but they're here." The first voice continued.

I looked at the others curiously as they searched out the source of the voice in the building above. Could it be that one of these mad people could sense our presence, or perhaps it was the vampire incarcerated here?

I sniffed the air again; no, it was definitely male.

"Orderly, I think a little sedation is in order for Miss Brandon tonight." The Matron said in a calm voice.

"NO! NO! They're gonna get me, **they're gonna get me**!"

"Orderly!" The Matron snapped and there was the sound of a struggle.

"Good evening, can I help you?" Came a voice from behind us.

We turned as one to face the source of the voice. He looked like a man of about thirty years with neatly trimmed light brown hair with just a touch of ginger to it. His face was long and friendly looking, the type you might want to tell your inner most thoughts to. He was wearing a white doctors coat over his finely tailored brown suite.

"Hello." James said casually. "My coven and I were wondering what kind of place this is. Why in this building designed for disturbed humans is there such a strong scent of vampire about."

"Oh no. There's just me here. This is my own personal larder." He said with a grin.

"What an intriguing idea." James remarked. "And nobody notices that patients go missing?"

"Patients die here all the time, nobody notices one or two more." He said with a shrug.

"Do the patients know what you are?" I asked despite myself.

He turned to me and smiled, "Of course they don't, and even if they did who would believe them?"

"How convenient for you." I sneered, this seemed almost as bad as James torture routine.

He smiled at me as if I was a petulant child.

"I think we should go inside, the guard will be doing his rounds in five minuets and he doesn't take kindly to trespassers." He said in a welcoming voice.

I didn't need to see James's face to know that he was grinning from ear to ear. We had an invitation inside, we wouldn't need to do any sneaking around.

"My name is Ramsey." He said, as he led us in through the doors.

The smell inside was strong. I quickly stopped breathing to cut off the stench of urine, blood, faeces and other human waste products all barely masked by the strong modern chemicals that supposedly stopped the invisible little creatures that caused disease.

There were shouts and screams coming from all over the hospital now and the sounds of running feet.

"Damn that girl, she's started them off again." The Matron, a big woman whose dark hair was scraped back into a tight bun, muttered as she passed us.

"Who?" Ramsey asked.

"Oh Doctor there you are." She said slightly breathless. "It's Mary in room four, she's been playing up again, shouting about the darkness coming to get her. We've sedated her now and put her in solitary, but not before she woke the others."

"How unfortunate." Ramsey said smoothly. "Settle the others down then have Mary come visit me tomorrow." His voice was almost tender when he said Mary's name.

"Yes Doctor." The Matron said before rushing off.

"If you would care to follow me." He said, and led us to a big office, which was decorated in wood panels, with dusty books on shelves and diplomas on the wall.

He sat behind the big desk and indicated the chairs on the other side for us to sit. Victoria and I sat either side of James.

"As I said I am Ramsey, who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

"I am James Lovell. This is my mate Victoria and our daughter Holly."

"Yes, I see the resemblance." Ramsey said, looking between the three of us. "How nice that you could remain family as immortals." He smiled.

I frowned, disagreeing heavily with him. It was the worst day of my existence the night I met up with James and Victoria, it was anything but 'nice'.

His eyes flickered over my face and I had the odd notion that he could read my feelings directly from my face, he smiled knowingly but didn't voice an opinion. Thankfully.

"Quite." James said, one eyebrow raised.

"So what really brings you here? It was not mere curiosity, I see the hunger in your eyes." Ramsey said in an analytical way.

"I guess you caught me out." James said unabashed. "I was led here by a scent. The most delicious I have ever smelt, I had to come and see what produced it. I must taste it, it calls to me."

"Ah yes, I have heard of this. Please, I will give you a tour and you can point out the one you desire, I can arrange matters so that you may dine in peace." Ramsey said with a smile, rising to his feet.

"Thank you kindly." James said, rising also.

Victoria stood and followed the men out. I was the last to stand, making my way slowly behind them. I didn't like this place, it was all wrong, just another playpen for a different type of monster.

We walked down endless corridors trying to isolate the scent that James found so appealing. Finally we stopped outside a fairly small but heavy looking metal door. It looked impassable and had only a flap in the bottom, where food could be inserted no doubt. There was also a hatch at eye height, so one could check on the patient within. James let out a sound that was almost a purr as I noted the sparkly grey that surrounded the door.

"This is the one." He crooned.

"Then I'm afraid I must withdraw my previous offer." Ramsey said severely as he blocked the doorway.

"Get out of my way." James snarled.

"No. If you attempt to enter I will be forced to call the orderlies." Ramsey stated calmly.

"Humans." James scoffed.

"Yes, humans. But there are enough of them that some would escape the attack and they've all been ordered to report to a friend of mine should an abnormally strong patient wreak havoc." Ramsey said smoothly.

James sneered.

"My friend happens to be a member of the Volturi Guard." Ramsey said, "And I don't think they'd take too kindly to someone so openly mocking their laws."

"The Volturi?" James asked slowly, and I heard something in his voice I'd never heard before. I heard fear.

How interesting, it was something to bear in mind for the future.

"Yes the Volturi. So unless you wish to incur their wrath, I suggest you leave without delay."

James growled threateningly for a moment and looked about to argue, but he straitened up. "Come Victoria, Holly." He said sharply, then turned to leave.

We followed him into the night, out to the docks where there were some old warehouses we could hide for the day.

"That arrogant Neanderthal." James raged once we were safely inside. "Who does he think he is telling me what to do?"

"Calm down James." Victoria cautioned, putting a calming hand on his arm.

"Don't tell me what to do woman." He said, throwing her hand off him.

"I was merely counselling calm." Victoria said in her best diplomatic voice. "You always think better when you're calm."

James glared at her breathing heavily, angrily. Then his breathing began to calm and he nodded his head.

"You're right my love. I do plan better when I'm calm." He sat down on a crate with his chin in his hand while Victoria sat beside him, embracing him.

"You'll think of something." She whispered, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yes. Now what would be the best way to distract Ramsey while we get to the girl?" He began.

I could suddenly see a me shaped hole in their plan, I began to edge backwards toward the door.

"And where do you think you're going?" James demanded, his head suddenly snapping up.

"Out to hunt." I lied smoothly.

"Why?" He asked suspiciously.

"It has been a good week since I last fed. If you wish me to go back into that place with a level head so I may distract the doctor then I will need to feed first." It wasn't completely a lie, it had been a week since I last fed.

James regarded me for a moment while Victoria played with his hair, kissing his ear and neck lightly. James sighed with contained pleasure.

"Very well. Go hunt, it's a good idea." He said in an admirably steady voice. "Take all the time you need."

"Oh I will Father." I said smoothly, and left before they got even more affectionate.

They could become quite unbearable leading up to a big hunt. They were even more unbearable after the hunt, I always made myself scarce.

Once I was outside I headed to the better part of town where the boutiques were, I would do a different type of shopping tonight, anything I got off the back of a poor unfortunate would not do for what I had in mind.

I found a shop that looked about right and made my way around the back. I judged which was the right back door in the alley and opened it easily, not even having to use all my strength despite the fact that it was locked. I closed the door and set about looking for garments in my size.

I was not accustom to what was the style of today so I looked for something I recognized. I settled on a dark green satin dress cut to fit the contours of the female body perfectly, yet kept everything respectfully covered. It felt good to ware expensive material once more, I was so fed up with cheap rough wool, despite the fact that it didn't really chafe my granite skin.

This boutique also sold essentials, from stockings to hairpins. I picked out a pair of real silk stocking and pulled them on, securing them in place with my suspenders. And a corset of course, I didn't understand these new fangled brassieres, I never felt fully dressed in them. I pulled on the dress, quickly fastening the many buttons that adorned the back quite easily.

I then proceeded to brush my wild hair, pinning it up as best I could, it never wanted to be restrained. Lastly I found a hat, it was fairly small and was approximately the same colour as my dress. It also had the thing I most desired of it, a veil. It was only small, coming down to my nose, but it was thick and would make it hard to determine my eye colour.

I looked in the mirror, yes I looked every bit the respectable lady. I found a handbag that matched my outfit, I felt that a modern lady should carry one, never to rely on a man for anything so crass as money.

I found some money in the, ahem, safe and put a few dollars into my purse hoping that this would be enough to get me to the asylum in a taxi cab. Before I left I put everything back where I had found it and picked my clothes up from the floor. Hopefully it would be a while before they noticed anything was missing.

Then I left and made my way around to the main street after dumping my old clothes in the alley. Dawn had already broken and there was already considerable traffic about the streets. I spotted a taxicab, one of those new automobiles trudging along the cloud darkened streets. I put my hand out and beckoned for him to stop.

He pulled over and I opened the door, sliding into the back.

"Where to ma'am." He said, squinting at me in the rear view mirror.

"Shady Hill Asylum please." I said, trying to keep breathing to a minimum.

"Now what would you want with the nut house?" He asked as he pulled off.

"I am a patient there." I said flatly.

"Oh." He said, looking worried.

"That was a joke." I said calmly. "No, my father is starting to worry me, I wish to talk to Dr. Ramsey about having him committed."

"Dr. Ramsey? Heard he was the best head doctor in the land, bit strange though."

"Not that strange." I said, thinking of him in comparison to other immortals I'd met.

"Well if anyone can put your father right Dr. Ramsey can." The taxi driver stated, pulling onto a street I recognized.

He pulled up outside the big iron gates.

"That'll be two dollars please ma'am." He said, turning to look at me.

"Keep the change." I observed, handing him five.

I got out of the cab quickly and made my way to the gates, I heard the cab pull off quickly, probably before I realised my tip had been greater than the fare.

I pushed the small gate that was set into the bigger gate and made my way up the gravel drive until I reached the front door. I pulled on the bell pull and I heard the bells jangle inside. A flustered looking ward sister who first glared, then adjusted her expression to one of respect when she noted my clothing opened the door.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I wish to speak with Dr. Ramsey." I said, adopting my best posh accent.

"He's busy right now." She said, going to close the door.

"No. This is urgent." I said, placing my foot in the door. "Tell him it is Miss. Holly Lovell and she needs to talk with him urgently about her father, James."

"But he's busy." The nurse insisted.

"Listen my girl, I have not the patience to deal with you right now. You just go to Dr. Ramsey and tell him that Holly Lovell wishes to speak with him. I'm sure you'll find his schedule suddenly clear." I said haughtily.

She bit her lip and looked at me for a long moment.

"Ok, I'll go tell him, but you'll have to wait in the hall." She said.

I nodded my head and made my way inside. I sat on one of the low chairs as the nurse shut the door and made her way to the doctor's office. She returned barely after a minuet with an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry Miss. I didn't realise you knew the Doctor personally. He said go right on in." She murmured in rush.

"Thank you." I said, getting to my feet and I made my way to Ramsey's office.

I stopped outside the door and listened to the voices within.

"I'm sorry Doctor, I don't know what came over me last night, but please don't put me in the machine it makes me worse." The girl was whispering.

"You promised me that you would behave yourself, but you didn't." Ramsey said sternly.

I knocked on the door.

"Come in." He called in an agitated voice.

I entered and his face broke into a smile when he saw me.

"Good morning Miss Lovell." He said smoothly. "Miss Brandon do you mind if Holly sits in with us this morning?"

A small face looked at me over the Back of the arm chair. The face was gaunt and pale and there were dark circles under the eyes as if she had not slept in a while, but the dark eyes were vibrant and knowing, as if she could see right into my soul.

My nostrils quivered slightly and I noted her scent, grey with a touch of sparkle, this was the on James craved.

She clutched her small pale hand to her head, tangling it in her messy black hair that was cut fashionably short, as if she had a headache. She closed her eyes for a moment, but when she opened them she smiled.

"Not at all." She beamed before turning back to the Doctor.

"Miss Lovell is training to become a psychiatrist." Ramsey said as I rounded the chair to sit next to the small girl.

"Glad to see us girls going into a high paying profession." She said with a grin.

It was hard not to smile back.

"Is she your sister?" The girl asked suddenly.

"No, what would give you that impression?" Ramsey asked bemused.

"You have the same eyes." She said intensely.

Ramsey and I exchanged worried glances.

"No. Miss Lovell is an old family friend." Ramsey assured her.

"Oh. That's a shame." Mary said distantly.

"Why?"

"Because it might have explained…" She trailed off.

"Explained what?" Ramsey prompted after a couple of seconds when she didn't continue.

"Why I can't see her either." She answered reluctantly.

"Now Miss Brandon we've talked about this."

"Sorry Doctor." She whispered, closing her eyes and leaning her head against her knees that were pulled up to her chest. "I won't mention it again."

"I hope you won't Mary, you know how much it upsets Matron."

Mary shivered, "I don't want to go in the machine." She murmured once more.

"I know my dear." The Doctor said, placing his hand on her hand in a comforting manner.

I regarded this curiously, I thought that he had wanted to save this girl because he himself desired her blood, but now there seemed to be an arterial motive to his blocking James last night. Could it be that this immortal held an affection for this strange human girl?

"You won't have to go in the machine today provided you stop this nonsense talk in front of Matron." Ramsey continued.

"Yes Doctor." Mary promised.

"Now take this token, you have an hour in the art room today before you return to your cell." He said, handing her a coin that was too big to swallow.

Mary nodded and took the coin, rising to her feet. Even standing she looked small.

"Goodbye Doctor." She said with a little bow.

"Good day Mary." The Doctor said, nodding in return.

She stopped at the door. "I told you before Doc, call me Alice. All my friends do." She said with brittle brightness before leaving the office.

Ramsey watched her go before turning to me.

"So Holly there was something you wished to discuss?" He said with a smile.

"I think it is something you would not wish to discuss in front of your staff." I said quietly.

Ramsey looked at me for a moment then got to his feet and crossed to the door, he stuck his head outside. "Sister Rena." He called.

"Yes Doctor." The nurse said.

"Please inform the others that I have gone off shift, I will return to duty in five hours after my sleep. In that time I do not wish to be disturbed."

"Yes Doctor." I heard the nurse reply.

Ramsey pulled himself back into the room and locked the door.

"Now what can I do for you Holly?" He said, resuming his seat.

"How attached are you to that Mary girl?" I asked.

"Why?" He asked.

"What if I were to tell you her heart will stop beating within a week?" I asked quietly.

"I would ask why you came to this conclusion." Ramsey stated.

"James has started the hunt." I said, rising to my feet and pacing nervously. I felt a strange thrill to be going against James. "He never loses and he has his heart set on the strange one."

"I feared as much." Ramsey said quietly.

"What?" I asked, looking at him in amazement.

"Do you know why Mary is here?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"She claims to see the future. Of course nobody believes her and her parents could no longer handle her screams in the night so they brought her here. None of them see her potential, they just lock her away when she plays up and fill her full of electricity."

"Wait. You believe that she is psychic?" I gasped, grasping at his implication.

"No." He said firmly with a shake of his head. "I do not believe, I _know_ that she is psychic. I have made a bit of money on the stock exchange from her predictions. Recently though she has become withdrawn, she says her future is fast disappearing into darkness, she fears her end is near." He explained. "At least when she is lucid."

"What did she mean that she couldn't see me?" I asked.

"For some reason she is unable to see our kind. I knew you had arrived last night when she began shouting about the darkness. When I saw the hunger in your father's eyes I knew this is what she spoke of." He said sadly.

"You have to protect her." I said.

"Why?" He said with a sad sigh. "I may have a soft spot for her, but she is human after all."

"Because James, he doesn't just feed when he hunts, when he truly hunts he likes to torture, to get as much pleasure from his victims as possible. She will die in pain…" I trailed off in a whisper.

He sat there with his eyes wide for a moment unable to speak.

"What if I take her far away from here?" He asked.

"It will do no good. James is an excellent tracker, stealing her away will just make the game more fun for him." I replied.

"There must be some way to protect her?"

"The only way to save her from James is if her heart stops." I whispered.

We fell into an uncomfortable silence, then we both gasped at the same time and looked up into each other's eyes. Had we come to the same conclusion?

"There's more than one was to make her heart stop." I pointed out.

"But do I wish to confine her to this life?" He asked.

"Do you wish to confine her to the grave?" I said pointedly.

He shook his head, a distraught look on his face.

"But what if it's fated she should die? Her visions have gone blank."

"She can not see us." I pointed out. "Do you honestly think that she would see it coming for herself?"

Ramsey looked thoughtful, rubbing his chin.

I placed my chin in my hands and watched him closely. He was handsome and intelligent and had compassion for lesser creatures. His voice stirred things deep within that I never thought existed in me.

Without thinking I rounded the desk quickly, pressing my lips to his, breathing him in deeply. I felt a shiver ran through me, especially when his arms came up to embrace me, to pull me into his lap. I knew then that I belonged with him and that I wanted to help him protect the dark haired mystic.

I pulled back and looked into his eyes and smiled. He smiled back, his breathing slightly unsteady. Could it possibly be after all this time I had found what I was looking for, although I had no idea I was looking for it.

And then I knew that I couldn't let him go off alone, I wanted him to be so much a part of my life now.

"I have a plan." I whispered. "Steal Mary away this day. Take her far away and when you find somewhere secluded to lay low for a few days bite her. Change her, and once she is immortal we will meet back up."

"What about James?"

"You leave him to me. I couldn't possibly hope to win in a fight against him, but I'm going to run away again, only this time he won't bring me back." I said smugly.

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to Volterra. Thanks to you I now know what that vile fiend is afraid of. I hear they're always looking for trackers on the guard." I stated uncertainly.

"You would be right in thinking so. And Aro will be delighted with young Mary. Powers are usually increased tenfold by the venom. What a delight it will be for him to have the sight of the future in his hands." Ramsey surmised.

"Then I will meet you in Volterra." I whispered, placing my hand on the side of his face.

"I will meet you there." He whispered back and we kissed for a second time.

I pulled away and rose slowly to my feet, I didn't want to leave his company, but I would have to if we wished to defeat James.

"Take her now, as soon as I leave, I will be back here at sundown."

"Why would you return here?" He asked.

"Because I'm supposed to distract you while James gets his clutches on Mary." I said wryly. "I'd leave now also, but I want to buy you some time."

"Thank you Holly." He said gently, rising to his feet and kissing me on the forehead. "I will see you in Volterra."

He embraced me tightly and I sighed contentedly, feeling safe in his arms. How I could have stayed there forever, but I had a task ahead of me. I breathed in his scent once more, allowing the sparkling blue to fill my head. I pulled away from him.

"Go now." I commanded. "The earlier you go, the greater the head start you will have."

He nodded his head, looking at me longingly. How I wish I could just lose myself in him, but we had to act now if we wished to beat James.

"Goodbye, my love." I whispered in a small voice.

"Goodbye my love." He repeated, kissing my forehead once more.

I smiled timidly at him then made my leave…

…It was two hours after sunset when James and Victoria finally emerged from their private time. I was sitting on the roof of the warehouse waiting for them staring up at the bare patch of stars above.

"Are you ready?" James asked.

"Yes Father." I said, rising to my feet.

His eyes swept me up and down.

"What's with the new togs?" He asked.

"I thought I should look presentable when I visit with the Doctor." I said calmly. "He is taking me out for 'dinner' tonight."

"He is?"

"Yes, it was cloudy today so I thought I'd put it to some good use and start my seduction early." I said lightly, I thought it best to go with this story for the good doctor's scent was all over me.

"A bit of initiative Holly. I'm impressed."

I smiled in gratitude while secretly cursing his name for being so patronising.

"So what time are you going to meet him?"

"In about ten minuets." I said, "Wait half an hour then he should be clear of the hospital."

"Very well." James said, looking at me questioningly.

"I shall see you later." I said brightly and took off running for the asylum.

I thought it was better if I actually went to the hospital before taking off, besides I had a note for James.

_Dear James,_

_Surprise, I bet you never expected this of me, well I did it. I warned the good doctor of your intention for his patient and I told him to leave, to run as far away as possible from you. She will never be yours; she is most likely already on the change by now. From this note I believe you will guess that I have also ran. All I have to say to you dark father is: catch me if you can. You will find me in Volterra._

_Goodbye forever,_

_Holly_

I left the note in Mary's room, it was no trouble dodging the staff and then I made my way back outside. I faced east and began running faster than I ever had in my whole existence. I made it to Volterra and I never saw James again.

I never saw Ramsey either, he didn't come for me. Obviously he bonded with his Mary and forgot about me. His kisses meant nothing but gratitude. It was then I began my era in the Volturi Guard.

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**Ok, long chapter, but I thought I'd make up for how short the last one was.**

**Thanks for reading, please review, **

**Gemma (:**


	7. Chapter 6 I'm To Blame

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the wonderful world of Twilight.**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to: - Nikki-Twilight Lover, ****Black phoenix-2009 & ****Lolly DudetteHaha**

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**The Present…**

"That was Alice!" Edward gasped.

"What?" I asked with a frown.

"The mystic girl, Mary Brandon, that was Alice." He clarified.

I still felt a slight confusion, which cleared as he pointed to the dark haired pixie. As I regarded her, her small features swam into focus and suddenly I saw Mary sitting there beside the tall blond one.

"It is her!" I gasped. "You are Mary." I addressed her directly.

"You knew me?" She asked with a frown.

"Not really, but I knew of you. I was the one who convinced Ramsey to steal you away, to protect you from James." I said quietly.

"You saved me from James? Thank you!" She squealed and she ghosted across the room to embrace me.

"In a way, but truly it was down to Ramsey. Where is he?" I asked expectantly.

Alice bit her lip as she regarded me sadly. "Was he your mate?" She asked.

"He could have been, had he returned to me." I sighed sadly. "But obviously he did not see me as such for I never saw him again."

"That's cause James destroyed him." Bella said sadly.

I turned to her in shock.

"What?" I demanded.

"Just when James was going to kill me, because he thought he'd won, he told me about the only time his prey had escaped from him. About how the vampire who'd been working at the asylum where she was kept had stolen her away and turned her into a vampire. How he had destroyed the old one for such an act." She looked at me with sad eyes. "He was gloating."

My breath stopped and I could not move. I was stuck in this chair, a statue.

"Are you ok?" I heard Bella's voice from far away.

"James killed Ramsey?" I asked.

"As far as we know."

"James killed my Ramsey?" I hissed.

"Yeah?" Bella ventured.

"I waited and waited and thought he did not want me, but James had killed him." I felt as if a piece of me had been ripped away. I wanted to bite and claw and destroy the cause of this pain I felt to the very core of my being, but I could not.

I felt the painful dry sobs take my body and I lowered my face into my hands, how could this be? He should have been the love of my life, yet now I couldn't even shed a tear for him. Oh cruel fate to make me your fool!

"We should have been together, until the end of eternity. He should have been mine. How could that monster take him from me? I thought he didn't want me!" I sobbed.

"Oh Holly!" I heard Esme say gently, and I felt her arm around me. "I can't begin to imagine how terrible this must be for you."

"Oh god. It was all my fault." I gasped.

"How so dear one?" Esme crooned.

"I convinced Ramsey to steal Mary away. I convinced him to make her immortal. Had I not done this then James would not have killed my love."

"Yeah. But if you hadn't done it I would have been vampire chow and Jasper would still be wondering around the south looking for some meaning in his life." Alice said lightly, putting her small hand on mine.

I looked up into her eyes, gold now instead of dark, yet she was so obviously Mary. How had I not recognised her before?

"He should have been my mate." I wailed.

"I'm sorry." Alice gasped, throwing her arms around my neck. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Oh Ramsey, Ramsey, how I have wronged your memory." I couldn't stop the sobs wracking my body. _The years I have spent despising that man, and he was dead! What a dark monster am I?_

"You can't think like that. You didn't know." Masen said, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

I looked up into his friendly red eyes.

"Perhaps you are right young one." I conceded with a sniff.

"I know I am." He jested with a grin.

I laughed slightly, it was hard not to.

"I think he did love you and would have come to you if James hadn't got to him, but you can't blame yourself either, I think Ramsey still would have done it anyway. Who wouldn't want to protect people from James?" Masen said lightly, looking pointedly at the Cullens.

"I guess you have a point." I conceded.

You shouldn't be so hard on yourself; James was a monster. I gasped as I heard Masen's voice in my head.

"You know, you only seem to remember bad stuff." Masen observed casually. "Don't you have any good memories at all?"

I chuckled at this.

"I must seem tragedy personified." I remarked.

"You do a bit. A lot of 'if only…'s in there. A bit Tess of the Derbevilles if you ask me." He teased.

"I read that book, I remember someone had left it on a park bench and I sat all night reading it. It was very sad, but I do not think my tragedy is anything like as bad as hers."

"So do you have any good memories?" He prompted.

I rolled my eyes and could not contain the giggle that bubbled from my lips; this young one was so uplifting.

"Ironically, my best memory is that of my change and the first years of my immortal life." I answered.

"Do you want to tell us? I know Edward and me can read it from your mind as you remember it, but the rest can't, they probably don't know what the hell we're talking about."

"Very well, I shall tell you the tale of how I became a vampire." I whispered.

"Gee, would you look at the time. We've gotta be leaving in an hour, I'm going to go get changed." Nessie said, looking at her watch. "Carry on without me." She assured me with a smile. "I'll get Masen to tell me later."

"Oh, yes. I apologise if I am keeping you from something." I said sincerely.

"See you later." Nessie said, and flittered up the stairs.

"So you were telling us how you became a vampire." Bella prompted, seeming intrigued.

"Yes, well I had just found out that the woman who adopted me and 'saved' me from the Workhouse was actually the woman who put me there in the first place. Victoria had had a child out of wedlock and did not wish to get destroyed by the scandal. So she left me on the doorstep of an orphanage.

"As you can imagine I was not best pleased at this news, but I never got to voice my opinion because that was when they appeared…

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**Thanks for reading, please review,**

**Gemma (:**


	8. Chapter 7 Beautiful Strangers

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all of Twilight.**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to everyone who's reading this (:**

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There were five of them all together, two ladies and three gentlemen.

The male with the strawberry blond curls that clung to his head like the curls of cupid sniffed along my neck. I whimpered slightly, wondering what he might do to me, a man had never been this close to me before. He pulled his head back and smiled at me. On second inspection he wasn't quite a man, there was still a hint of boyish roundness to his cherubim face. He was a youth of seventeen at the most.

"Look at that mass of hair." He said, touching my red locks tenderly. "And the shape of that face." He said caressing my face. "Like an elf."

I couldn't help the shiver of delight that wracked my body at his casual touch. It felt good, if a little naughty, and I longed for him to touch me in the places hidden by my dress.

I was shocked at my own thoughts!

"She is our keeper." He whispered.

"Oh definitely." The dark haired female agreed, and she also sniffed me. "Mmm. Delicious."

"They look the same." The male with the short-cropped hair observed. "Why can't we keep this one?"

"She's too old Lovell, you know our rules." The cupid said casually. "Take her if you want, you do have one more owing to you."

"But this one is so much better." Lovell growled.

I risked a glance at Victoria who was looking at Lovell in a mixture of fear and awe. Was there a hint of lust on her face? I didn't analyse it too deeply for I had other concerns.

"She looks too old." The cupid mused as he stroked my face once more. "Fourteen years too old."

The brown haired male let out a low growl.

"We'll put it to a vote then. Who wants to change the green eye?" The other three raised their hands. "Who wants to change the blue eye?"

"Aye." Said the brown haired man.

"You're outvoted Lovell. We will take the young one. The old one is yours. Are we all agreed?"

"Yes Eros." The three chorused while Lovell kept his peace.

"Then let's get her out of here and torch this place." Eros declared. "Lovell, the old one is yours."

He said toward where Victoria and Lovell had been standing.

"Where did he go?" Eros asked.

"Oh you know Lovell." The other male observed.

"He likes to play with his food." The brown haired female breathed.

"Of course he does." Eros said with a chuckle. "So shall we set about initiating this one?"

And then he picked me up in his arms, like some romantic hero, and I was cradled close to his cold hard chest as he carried me with great speed from the house. I looked up into his beautiful face as he occasionally glanced down at me with a smile as the night air rushed past and the shadows of trees flashed by quickly over head.

And then we were out on the downs with nothing but silence and the ghostly moonlight for miles around. We dropped down a good hundred feet but I was barely jostled and he didn't seem to be worried by it. His bright white grin glinted down at me in the moonlight before darkness engulfed us and I knew we were underground.

I closed my eyes and buried my face into his chest as the darkness thickened. You don't know darkness until you've seen it in its true form, deep underground where the light can't get to you. The darkness small children were left alone in for hours on end to open doors for speeding pit ponies. Darkness so absolute that the only way you can tell your eyes are open is to feel with your hands.

Yet my beautiful stranger carried me swiftly and surely as if the darkness offered no hindrance to him, while I remained cwtched into his chest.

I think I must have drifted to sleep, because I opened my eyes as I felt myself being lowered down, he placed me on a very comfortable mattress and smiled down at me.

"Welcome home my sweet." He crooned, stroking back my hair. "Here, have a goblet of wine."

I took the proffered glass thankfully, my throat was suddenly parched. I drank the wine back quickly, maybe a little too quickly as I felt my head swim slightly I ate some of the food he offered me too.

"Iris. Why don't you go and find our guest something suitable to ware." He said, not taking his eyes off me.

"Certainly Eros." The dark haired female answered before offering me her hand.

I took it and allowed her to pull me to my feet. Gosh, her hand was cold. And she led me into a separate part of the cave…mine, whatever it was that we were in. This part was definitely showing a woman's touch though.

"The men aren't allowed here." Iris said lightly. "Now let's see, what shall we get you to ware." She said, looking me up and down.

She went to the rack of clothes and picked out a single garment. It reminded me of something I had seen in a history book, a dress worn by women in ancient Greece. It was made of fine muslin in a spring leaf green colour that would complement my eyes. I gasped and ran the slinky material through my fingers.

"This is beautiful." I sighed.

"Come on then, lets get you changed." She said with a smile.

"Changed?" I asked timidly.

"Yes. Don't be shy; you haven't got anything I haven't seen before. Come on, strip off and put this on." She said, holding up the dress again.

The dress was so pretty!

I stripped off down to my undergarments.

"You can't ware them under a dress like this!" She declared. "It will spoil the line. Come on, take it all off."

I gulped. "All off."

"Don't worry, the boys won't see you. They'll have me to deal with if they spy on you." She said sternly.

I looked into her eyes noting how they seemed oddly red in the darkness. She was watching me expectantly, was it really any different than allowing the maids to help me dress?

"Can you help…help me with the laces." I said, pointing over my shoulder to where my corset was tied.

"Course deary." She assured me, putting the dress down and turning me around.

She loosened the laces and my corset fell away. I removed my vest myself before quickly folding my arms to cover my now bare breasts. I felt material slip over my head and my vision was obscured for a moment. I lifted my arms up through the relevant holes and allowed the material to slide over my body.

I turned to Iris and she began pulling at the dress here and there, adjusting it.

"Yes, you look truly divine now." She remarked as she stepped back to look at me.

She led me from behind the partition and back into the main chamber, Eros and the other too were sitting around the bed. Iris led me to it and bade me to sit down; I obeyed, looking around at the beautiful strangers who surrounded me.

"Before we begin, some introductions are in order." Eros said formally.

I nodded my head.

"This is Zephyrus." He said, indicating the other male, the one with the white blond hair.

I nodded to him.

Zephyrus smiled back.

"This is Gaea." Eros continued, indicating the brown haired female, who gave me a wry smile. "And this if Iris." He said, pointing to Iris. "And I'm Eros."

"Then you are all named for Greek gods." I whispered.

"We were the Greek gods." Eros replied.

"So you're the god of love making?" I demanded, looking doubtfully at his boyish face.

"If you want me to be." He whispered, placing his hand on the side of my face.

I gasped at the coldness of his touch.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"We are known as the Child Coven, because we were all less than twenty when we were made immortal." Eros explained. "Do you want to join us?"

"Join you? How?"

"You will experience a little pain and discomforture, but after that you will be strong and new and you will never know illness again."

"I know not of what you talk." I gasped.

Eros closed his eyes for a moment, and then he opened them, looking at me solemnly. "Do you know what a vampire is?" He asked.

I frowned for a moment, trying to remember my lessons. "Are they not the restless spirits of the dead who seek the blood of the living in order to continue their existence?" I asked.

"Not quite. We are immortal beings who need no longer fear Death. We are strong and we are fast and we will look as we do now for all eternity. We also have the power to extend this gift to whomsoever we see fit. Do you wish to join us?"

I could be immortal?

"What am I required to do?" I asked quickly.

"Just drink the wine." Eros breathed into my ear. "Drink until you can take no more." And he thrust the goblet into my hand.

I drank the wine back fast and my head swam, the noises around me intensifying and dimming in a steady flow. I drank another glass, I was starting to feel nauseated and nothing seemed real.

I lay back into the sumptuous cushions as my hand went limp, dropping the goblet. I felt my eyes droop as Morphius called me forth. I lost myself in the darkness of sleep dreams coming to me in vivid, pulsing colours but nothing else.

I was distantly aware of the stings all over my body, everywhere, setting fire to my veins.

For the first five minuets I felt nothing, dimly aware of the pain as if it were happening to somebody else. I lay in that blissful stare until the venom burned the alcohol away, and then I was in agony. Oh the fire, Oh the burn. Surely I was dying in this inferno?

The screams escaped my lips, but they did me no good, I was trapped in this fiery maelstrom and I would die from it surly. The flames engulfed me, burning me, not easing up one bit.

I know now that the pain had me for three days, but at the time it seemed an eternity.

It was an eternity before my heart finally stopped.

And when it did I thought surely I was dead. My body was cold, my heart quiet, and two signs of a corpse. I lay with my eyes closed, refusing to open them.

I breathed in through my nose still staring into the darkness behind my eyes, and I noticed with wonder the colours around me. There was a bright fresh fuchsia that beat with a heart of passionate red; this was close to me. Near to this first one was a spiralling rainbow, swirling and changing through all the colours of the spectrum. On my other side was an earthy greeny-brown that seemed woven with the last one, almost translucent with a silver haze pulsing through it. They seemed linked to the wonderful scents that filled my nose.

That's when it occurred to me that if I could breathe then I obviously wasn't dead. I opened my eyes to a canopy of golden material above me.

"Finally!" I heard a voice say beside me, it seemed strangely loud.

I blinked and looked over to the source of the voice. It was Eros, and he was the source of the fuchsia colour. He was smiling at me with all his boyish charm.

I frowned, trying to recall what had happened. It didn't help that there was a nagging burning in the back of my throat, it was demanding my attention and but I couldn't fathom what it wanted.

"She needs to feed." Someone, yes Iris in her rainbow glow observed. "Come on Diana. We'll go hunt out some food." She said, holding her hand out to me. "This girl could not have been more than sixteen, how had I not noticed before?

"Holly." I corrected.

"What?"

"My name is Holly." I insisted.

"Very well, Holly." She said, exchanging a glance with Eros. "Let's go get some grub."

I stood and followed her through the tunnels. It was still too dark to see because even perfect vampire vision needs at least some light, but the dark held no fear for me now. I could find my way well by following the scent trail that was thick from their passage.

We were outside before I knew it, I marvelled at the speed with which I could now travel.

"Where do we go to find dinner?" I asked.

"Follow your nose." She said with a grin.

I frowned at her.

She sniffed at the air.

"This way." She said, leading me eastward, toward the see, I could smell the salt and…

The fire in my throat intensified as something delicious hit my nostrils. God, what an appealing aroma I had to sink my teeth into it…

Without realising it I was running, following that scent blindly as my body insured I didn't run into anything. My mind was completely preoccupied with that mouth-watering scent. I was getting closer and closer.

It was a field late at night, there was nobody about apart from the courting couple making use of a hay bale. I grabbed hold of the youth whose clothes were all askew, dragging him from the floor I sank my teeth into his neck.

I heard him gasp with pain and he struggled in my arms, but I was too strong for him. I tightened my grip not wanting to let my prey escape as the warm red river pulsed delightfully over my tongue, truly this was the divine nectar of the gods. What powerful magic it must hold. My hands tightened still and there was a snapping sound, I heard the boy yell out at the new pain, I had broken his arm!

This river wasn't endless though, it soon dried up as the boy went limp in my arms and his heart stopped beating. As I dropped him too the floor my hearing came back as if from a distance and I could hear the high-pitched screams of the girl.

Her scent reached me, rich and inviting.

Without thinking I gave chase as she bolted across the field, I had her in my clutches instantly and I was drinking her blood too. Savouring the taste more this time for my hunger wasn't as demanding, but she also was not enough to fill the hole before she too was empty.

I dropped her and looked up.

"Not too shabby." Iris observed, nudging the girl's corpse with the toe of her boot. "Come on. We have to dump the bodies. The sea's probably the best place." And she reached down and picked the corpse up easily, swinging it over her shoulder as if it were a sack.

"Go get the boy." She said, nodding her head to where I had left him sprawled on the ground.

I obeyed and found that he weighed nothing at all. Or at least that's how it appeared to me.

Iris and I ghosted to the nearest cliff where the waves were crashing, trying to climb the rocks, driven by the winds off the Channel. I went to throw the body in the water.

"Wait." Iris called out, dumping the girl on the floor. "Check, see if he's got any valuables." She said as she began to search the girl.

I did this with the boy but came up empty.

"There's nothing." I whispered.

"His belt looks good." She said glancing over as examined the knitted shawl she'd just taken off the girl. "And Eros collects neck scarves."

So I removed the belt and neck scarf before we pushed their bodies into the briny depths to be battered against the rocks.

As we flittered back to the entrance of the mine I asked, "What will people say when they find their bodies?"

"If they find the bodies they'll just think they jumped together, that particular rock is known as Lover's Leap." Iris said with a smirk.

I wondered how many other people had been given the wrong cause of death because of Iris.

"Come on. Let's go get our stuff together. We're off back to London now you're awake."

"London?" I asked.

"Yep. We're the East London Coven, as well as being the Child Coven. You ever been to London?"

"I come from London." I answered.

"Really? Why was you in that big house then?"

"That's where we spend our summers."

"Oh. So you're a toff then, from the posh part." She inferred.

"From the age of ten, yes. However I spent the first part of my childhood in the Workhouse." I informed her.

"The Workhouse, cor, how did you get out of there?" I she asked impressed.

"I was adopted by the woman who turned out to actually be my mother."

"Well there's a turn up." She remarked, before disappearing down the hole.

I followed her and her scent trail back into the mine. The others were waiting.

"How did it go?" Eros asked eagerly.

"She was magnificent." Iris remarked, moving to his side and kissing his cheek. "We got some goodies as well." She said, holding up the locket she had found on the girl for closer inspection.

"Nice." Eros said, taking it from her hand.

"And this." She said, dancing around, modelling the shawl.

Eros nodded his head in approval.

"Oh, Holly's got some stuff too." Iris said, stopping mid spin to look at me.

I had been daydreaming slightly and I roused myself, "Oh, right." I said, holding up the neckerchief and the belt half-heartedly.

"Oh my!" Eros gasped and the neckerchief disappeared from my fingers. "A purple one. Purple is hard to come by, where did you get this?"

"Off my meal." I said. "He was gathering nuts with the former owner of that shawl."

"You caught a couple?" He asked. "And you managed to do away with both before the other could raise the alarm."

"Was I not meant to drink of both?"

"Usually we avoid multiple feeding this close to civilization. Not that the humans could do anything should they find out what we are, but it would make our lives terribly inconvenient, not to mention the Volturi would sweep down on us with force." Eros said.

"I've heard they're headed to America." Iris said darkly. "Cause of all the trouble there."

"Those foolish Colonials, armies of newborns indeed." Eros tutted.

"They're not Colonials any more." Gaea said.

"What?" Eros said with a frown.

"Americans are not Colonials. They got their independence, we lost them." Gaea replied apologetically.

"We did?" Eros asked uncertainly.

Gaea nodded her head.

"Well forgive me if I am not fully up to date, but when you're a thousand then you can make fun of me all you want."

"I wasn't making fun, I was just pointing out that we no longer have American colonies so we can't refer to them as Colonials any more." Gaea said quietly.

"Sorry I snapped, it is hard to keep up with who owns what land. When I was born Ireland was the edge of the world and England was over run with Vikings. Ownership always changes." He sighed. "So are we ready to move on?"

We returned to London and I was now with my new family and I loved them all very dearly. I learnt that we were an extension of the Volturi, although we could not weald this fact as power. We were, for want of a better word, Volturi spies and this fact was well noted among other immortals. Rarely were we disturbed and when we were the other clan of London came to our rescue, for they were fighters and they saw us as children to protect.

We moved in the shadowy slums amongst the dregs of society, but often that was where we found the most fun. After feeding until we were fit to burst and therefore safe around humans we would go to the music halls to watch them sing and tell jokes. Sometimes we would go to one of the many taverns and inns and mix with all the best people, the ones who could enjoy life despite not having much. We would join in the sing-a-long and buy drinks for whichever human we favoured that evening. Those were grand times.

Then there were the times we were feeling especially adventurous, when we would dress in finery in order to mingle in Society. My sisters and I often turned heads, the many proposals of marriage I received in one night was astronomical. Not to mention the near riots we caused when we turned down all our would-be suitors for the two strange pale men who nobody could quite recall seeing again.

What fun times, yet after the first decade it began to ware thin. By the end of the second decade it was positively tedious, I no longer wished to explore the human spots, I would much rather stay at home to read, only venturing out when the need to feed took.

And my books, filled with stories and pictures of foreign lands, I wanted to see them all. I did, but it was trailing behind James and Victoria, or in my official capacity on the Guard. I did not experience the countries as I thought I would and I knew that leaving my coven had been a big mistake.

But I suppose one cannot change the past…

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**Thanks for reading, please review,**

**Gemma (:**


	9. Chapter 8 Animal Blood?

**Disclaimer: The brilliant, fantabulous, amazing Stephenie Meyer is the sole owner of the wonderful world of Twilight.**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Disney Vampire, thanks for the lovely review and the lesson in double negatives, sometimes I forget my grammar and write the way I speak, which is Valley's Welsh English. **

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**The Present…**

"Wait a minuet." Masen interjected with a frown. "It sounds like you enjoyed drinking human blood."

"But of course." I replied in an, is it not obvious, voice. "I absolutely adored it. I loved the taste as of it as I felt it on my tongue, as it slid down my eager throat to my waiting belly. Oh what thrills, what joys to feel its warmth encompass me! I am no stranger to the thrill of the hunt, to tracking my prey down some dark alley before pouncing on them. I delivered death in a quick blow as I drew their oh so delicious life blood from them. When I took down my prey, they were drained before they had chance to scream.

"But than I witnessed the hunting habits of other immortals. It was James and Victoria who first turned me against the hunt with their slow tortures. And my time with the Volturi did little to reinstate my interest in the hunt. They were no better than my parents, even if they were more civilised about it. They saw humans as nothing more than cattle. Something that should be herded in when they were hungry." I shook my head in despair at the whole immortal world.

"If you feel such anguish over feeding off humans why do you not switch your diet?" Carlisle asked gently.

"To what pray?" I demanded, a little more aggressively than I'd intended.

I was not feeling angry toward Carlisle, but toward myself. His illogical question did not help matters. We were vampires, what else could we feast on? Of course there was always those silly rumours that I heard repeated more and more these days.

"Do you propose I drink the blood of animals?" I scoffed.

"We do." Carlisle replied intensely.

I looked at him incredulous for a moment, surely he was jesting with me?

I could read nothing but honesty from his godlike face.

"Impossible!" I whispered.

How could such a thing truly exist? Of course there had always been rumours, but could such a thing truly exist? That here in the New World there were immortals that survived on drinking the blood of animals alone?

"Well we do." Masen said defensively, answering my unspoken thoughts. "I've never drunk human blood, although I did come close." He added darkly with a shudder. "But how could I do it with that girl looking at me like that." He shook his head, "No, I just couldn't do it."

"It was amazing how he managed to resist, even with the Volturi influence." Edward remarked as if he were a proud father. "He is truly one of the family."

Masen smiled and lowered his head, I'm sure had it been possible he would have been blushing.

"I'd prefer to have gold eyes anyway." He murmured.

I thought of the implication of his last comment, and then I gasped.

_Of course!_

"That is why you all have gold eyes!" I exclaimed.

"Yes. Animal blood for some reason cools the colour to gold. We have yet to ascertain a reason for this." Carlisle explained in his gentle manner.

"So you do not drink human blood at all?" I asked astonished, looking around at all their faces.

"Occasionally there is the odd slip up." Carlisle said solemnly.

A look of pain flittered across Jasper's face, but Mary, sorry, Alice was already there placing a tiny hand on the side of his sombre face. She made him look at her, and when he did she smiled. Jasper smiled back, although there was still a trace of pain on his face.

_It's harder for Jasper_. I heard Masen's voice in my head. _His upbringing was a lot more…blood on tap than the other Cullens. Plus it doesn't help that he feels emotions, he's always beating himself up, despite the fact that his last slip was twenty years ago, and it's not like he actually killed anyone then._

"Is that so?" I asked aloud.

Masen nodded.

I turned back to Carlisle. "Are there any benefits to drinking only animal blood?" I asked.

"Besides a clear conscience?" Carlisle asked with a smile.

I shrugged.

"It strengthens our ability to be around humans, and their blood loses some of its appeal." Carlisle began. "Therefore we are able to mingle with them further, become a part of society. I am a qualified doctor and usually I take a post at the local hospital of whichever town we happen to call home at the time. At this precise moment in time I am 'on vacation' for the first time in five years since taking my current post."

"You work at a hospital around all those bleeding people?" I asked astounded.

"It took me centuries to reach this point, but yes, I work with all manner of sick and injured people."

I was impressed. This strange, gold haired, gentle eyed god had seemed to rid himself entirely of the dreadful bloodlust. But even this impressive being must surely have acted like a normal vampire at some point in his existence?

"Have you ever had any slips?" I demanded of him.

Carlisle shook his head, still smiling.

"Have you ever drank human blood intentionally?" I asked, changing the aim of my question.

He shook his head, but then he frowned.

"I have tasted it." He admitted shamefully. "When I sought to make others like me."

"What others?" I asked.

"There was Edward first, and then my wife Esme. Then I turned Rosalie and finally her mate Emmett."

"So you are telling me that the only times you've drank blood is to make other immortals?" I asked astounded.

"Yes." Carlisle answered simply.

That was very interesting.

"Drinking animal blood also makes us more civil toward one and other." Edward added. "It forges stronger bonds between us. We are a Family, not a coven."

"Family." I sighed.

_You destroyed mine!_ I couldn't help thinking.

"I take it you're referring to Victoria." Edward stated.

"Yes. I know it was you who destroyed her. Your colour was all over that clearing where she fell. You destroyed her, and the young one who stood at her side. Why did he not come to her aide when all they fought was you? It was two against one, it would have been an easy victory."

"But it wasn't two against one." Edward said smoothly. "Seth helped me. He fought Riley while I took care of Victoria."

"Took care of?" I exclaimed, rising to my feet, "When does tearing someone limb from limb constitutes as taking care of them?"

"It was only a figure of speech." Edward replied calmly.

"And who is this Seth?" I demanded. "I smelt only three vampires there."

My nostrils quivered of their own accord and registered a familiar scent in my head, but I could not place it at present.

"Oh, Seth isn't a vampire." Edward assured me.

The smell was coming closer, wild, feral, animal…

"Are you trying to tell me that a mere human managed to fight off and destroy a vampire?" I asked incredulously.

So familiar that scent, what was it?

"Oh Seth isn't a mere human." Edward informed me lightly.

Yes definitely familiar, but what was it?

"Then what is he?" I demanded through gritted teeth.

The scent was starting to make me feel on edge, I wanted to bite and claw.

I was dimly aware of the back door opening and closing and the scent grew more intense.

"Seth is a Quileute." Edward continued. "That means he's a…"

"…Werewolf." I cut him off with a hiss as the scent finally registered in my brain.

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**Thanks for reading, please review,**

**Gemma (:**


	10. Chapter 9 The Children of the Moon

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, let no one doubt her genius. **

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to: Minschen, Merina 2 & Disney Vampire, my only reviewers for Holly Ivy so far.**

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The body thudded to the floor as Darius threw it over his shoulder with a bone cracking snap. The thing writhed about; still trying to get us as its life quickly ebbed away. I brought my foot down quickly on its throat and I heard the creak of sinews and the crack of even more bones as the creature's neck collapsed beneath my heavy boot.

It flapped for a full minuet like a fish on the hook while I kept the pressure constant. I held my face in an emotionless mask, while truth be told I wanted to screw up my nose and grimace at the abomination that lay writhing at my feet. It was a full minuet before it finally gave up the ghost and went limp, the fires of life disappearing from the mad animal eyes.

I held my position a moment longer to insure that the creature was truly expired. In the light of the full moon the thick matted fur began to melt away to reveal grubby scar ravaged skin beneath. The body shape changed too, it left behind its canine bearings to become that of a homo sapiens.

Red blood stained the snow as it poured from the creature's ruined neck. It looked like the broken body of a frail old man now, with grizzled grey hair that fell to his shoulders and a wispy beard on his age ravaged face. Such a harmless looking old beggar-man. It was hard to believe he had left such a wave of destruction across half of Russia.

We had been tracking this one for a week, only able to do so properly at night for the Children of the Moon were hard to detect in their human guise. Without revulsion I broke the head from the body and held it up so I could closer inspect the face.

I gave a little laugh as realisation dawned.

"What's so funny?" Darius asked, looking up from his work of taking the rest of the creature apart. His spiky blond hair was messy from his tussle with the beast and part of his shirt had been ripped away, revealing the wiry muscles beneath.

"I told you it was him." I said, throwing the head to him.

Darius caught it reflexively and turned it in his sinuous hands so he could look at the face himself.

"So you did." He said, letting the head fall unceremoniously to the floor.

"Do you not see what this means?" I demanded angrily as I piled up the firewood.

"That you had a lucky guess." He replied flippantly as he continued with the dismemberment.

"I did not guess." I snapped indignantly, the very thought? "I knew it was him. I told you his colour was off."

"His colour, his colour." Darius mimicked as he began piling the body parts on top of the pyre. "What does that even mean?"

"I have told you of my talent before. I am a great tracker, that's why I was assigned to this team. My sense of smell is something of a marvel. All immortals have their own colours, you for instance are green and yellow all twisted together like snakes with an undercurrent of darkness." I explained.

Darius shrugged, grinning unashamedly while he threw the can of gasoline over the wood.

"All humans are grey, there are the odd few who sparkle, but they are few and far between. He had brownness about the grey. The wolf essence that clings to the Children of the Moon while out at night. It is still about them when they assume human form, I can smell it."

"Don't be foolish. It's hard to detect a werewolf when it's disguised in human flesh. If we could it would make our job a whole lot easier. Humans are much easier to kill." He observed as he set fire to a branch before applying it to the pyre.

I watched moodily as the flames caught and climbed high into the night, casting ruddy light on the snow around it. I could tell who the werewolves were during the day, why didn't they believe me?

"Ah, don't look so sad Hols." He said, placing an arm around my shoulder. "Now let's get out of here before the villagers arrive."

I sighed and followed him, ghosting through the trees to the rendezvous point.

Saskia our commander was already there, awaiting the arrival of the various teams. She was tall, slender and raven haired, which she wore long and flowing in a cascade down her back. She gave us a cold look as we entered the clearing.

"Darius, Holly back so soon? Were your quests so unfruitful?" She asked.

"Unfruitful?" Darius questioned with a cheeky grin. "I'd say there was quite a lot of fruit." He grinned throwing the werewolf's tail into her astonished hands.

_Funny, I did not notice him cutting it off._

Saskia pulled the tail through her fingers looking thoughtful.

"You have done well this night Darius." She said smiling slightly, it was the first time I'd ever seen her do this, I thought her incapable of such an act.

"Well it wasn't all me." He replied jovially. "Holly here's the best tracker in the biz." He said, clapping me on the back enthusiastically. "Recons she can even spot them when they're pretending to be human."

"Is this true?" Saskia question with an amused smirk on her face.

I shot Darius a look of betrayal.

"The creature we exterminated this evening was the one I pointed out in the town this morning." I replied quietly. "It was more than likely a fluke." I added dejectedly.

"Do you believe this?" Saskia questioned.

I drew in a breath and forced a bright smile on to my face, I looked up at her and said, "Of course I do, who could possibly detect werewolves when they are not in lupus form?"

"Well that is a shame." Saskia said with a sad little sigh. "And Aro was so very hopeful about you."

"Aro?" I asked intrigued.

I had met the amiable leader of the Volturi when I'd first arrived in Volterra. He was a strange one indeed, able to read your entire history in one touch. He had been most enthralled by the colours I saw with scent. He was also pleased to learn that Ramsey would be returning soon with a newborn who could possibly predict the future, but he was still yet to return even after a decade. It was Aro who suggested I join the extermination squad, to put my tracking abilities to good use.

"Yes. He told me personally that if anyone could judge a werewolf in the day then it would be you. But if you cannot…"

"Oh but I can." I blurted out.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes." I replied and I went on to explain to her about how scents were like colours to me and how the colours of the Children of the Moon differs from that of normal humans.

At the end of my speech she nodded her head thoughtfully.

"We shall have to test this theory. I have word that there is an infestation a hundred miles south of here. When the others return we will set out at once. Then we can test your theory, if what you say is true then it will make it even easier to rid the world of their evil race." Saskia declared zealously.

I smiled at this, the werewolves were a problem, they tore villages apart, mutilating men women and children alike, changing those who weren't lucky enough to die. The curse continued and their strength grew and faded with the waxing and the waning of the moon. Anything that helped us lessen their numbers was greatly welcomed. I prayed that my talent would be of merit to us in our endeavour.

It was an hour after dawn when we stood in the village in question. It was a bustle even this early in the morning, with humans going about their everyday lives. We drew few glances from the people who passed us, despite the fact that Saskia was dressed in one of the thick Russian Commanding officer's military great coats that despite being originally cut for a man she had adapted to accentuate her curves with the use of a belt. Darius was dressed as a low ranking officer of the Russian army while I was dressed in dark grey hard wearing trousers, I know, me in trousers! I thought I'd never see the day, but it made these missions so much the easier when my legs were not hampered by a needless excess of material. I wore a basic white blouse and over all of this a grey woollen great coat that had I not been a vampire would have kept me toasty warm.

I wore a scarf around my head; somewhat in the hope of drawing attention away from my flame red hair for it did cause quite a fuss in some places. All three of us wore the so called "sun glasses" over our eyes. The darkened lenses were good for hiding the nature present in our eyes.

Only the three of us entered the village, the rest were two miles away hidden in one of the Volturi's many properties that they owned throughout the world. This was purely reconnaissance and the presence of so many immortals would make the locals uneasy at best. It was the three of us because Saskia was the team leader and it was her duty to oversee everything. Darius was here because we always worked in teams of twos, one tracker, one fighter. And I was here because; well it was my theory we were testing.

The sky was blessedly heavy with snow so we did not have to stick to the shadows, this made scanning the crowds all the easier. At this precise time however I was only sensing the subtle greys of the humans. There was a werewolf around here, we had tracked his scent to the edge of town but then it disappeared under the snow. The foul beast must have tunnelled itself a burrow in the heavy drifts.

The wretch would more than likely turn up here though for this was the nearest village. The sad truth was that the trauma of the change was such that the Children of the Moon walked the moonless hours never knowing that they carried the curse, which was one of the reasons they were hard to spot. This also meant that they were not deterred from entering the dwelling places of humans.

"Any sign yet." Saskia asked in a quick low voice that the humans would not have understood even if they did speak English.

"Not yet." I whispered.

Just then an old lady who was walking past stopped and came up to us. She regarded us critically for a full minuet before saying something in Russian.

Saskia smiled and replied.

The old woman frowned and gasped, quickly making the sign of the cross, and spitting our general direction, before moving quickly away from us muttering something that sounded like a mantra. I put my head on one side and watched her retreat curiously.

"Superstitious old bag." Saskia hissed.

"What did she say?" I asked.

I knew many languages but Russian wasn't one of them. I made a mental note that next time I was in Volterra I would endeavour to learn.

"She saw that we were in military uniform and came to ask if we had come to do something about the killings. I replied that this is what we had come to do. I know not what she saw but she suddenly cried out that we were demons and we should leave." Saskia translated disdainfully.

"But we are here to help." I pointed out.

"That as may be, but we still made her feel nervous." Saskia grouched, shoving her hands deep into her pockets. "Demons indeed! I thought the Communists were atheists."

"Just because the country is, doesn't mean the people are." I observed solemnly. "Religion is hard to take from a person when it is ingrained from birth."

We fell into a thoughtful silence. I stared off into the crowed, drawing the breath in through my nose. And then I caught it, the odd suggestion of brown. I sniffed harder, trying to locate the source of the scent. I pinpointed him, the ragged beggar sifting through a pile of litter.

He was small and scrawny, his hair and beard long, not out of preference but because he had no other choice. If something should have put him out of place it should have been the fact that he wore nothing but a thin shirt and trousers. It was cold enough here for frostbite to set in within minuets, and yet here the creature was, walking around as if it were mid-summer in Spain.

"That's him." I breathed a whisper to Saskia.

Saskia followed my gaze and frowned.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

I nodded my head.

"Right, then I want you and Darius to track him, see where he goes. But don't kill him until the moon rises." Saskia ordered.

"But I am sure he is werewolf." I protested.

"Never the less I want to see if he changes with the rise of the moon, for if he truly is a werewolf then we can detect them in the day and therefore eradicate them when it is safer for us." Saskia argued.

I nodded my head again, she was right of course, it would be wrong to kill an innocent, especially when it wasn't for food.

"Of course." I replied quietly. "Come Darius." I said, grabbing his arm.

Saskia left us and we set off after the suspected werewolf at a safe distance. He had found a sack and was proceeding to fill it with scraps he found in the various piles of rubbish. Surely some of it must be food.

We tracked him through the village for three hours, and if he did notice us he didn't show any sign that he had. It was around eleven when he finally left the confines of the village, heading out over the snow filled fields to who knew where.

It was a journey of at least three miles outside of the village, the path he took seemed random but after a while there seemed to be a direction in his twisted mind. It was a brick building almost lost in the snowdrifts. We waited for him to enter and then found a way in ourselves through a broken window.

We were up in the steel rafters, moving ever closer, oh so silently toward the middle of the room where a group of six people clustered. They could have passed for a family group, the old man and woman the grandparents, the man we'd been following the middle-aged father, the other three two boys and a girl, who looked no more than thirteen, the children.

As we got closer their scents hit my nose and their colours hit my mind.

_Impossible!_

I froze rigid as the truth assaulted my mind. I stopped breathing and therefore I stopped smelling. The colours drained away and in the clarity that now filled my mind I reasoned that I was mistaken.

I smiled slightly, then breathed in through my nose once more. The colours returned and this time I was sure I was not mistaken. From each of the people in the room bellow rose the grey scent of the human, but twisted around every single one of them was the feral brown of the wolf.

I felt my body freeze again and my breathing stopped.

I felt Darius' eyes on me and heard the sigh as he opened his mouth to speak. I looked up quickly and held my finger to my lips, motioning him into silence. I saw the questions in his eyes, but I could not answer them here. I motioned for us to retreat outside.

Once I was sure we were well away I dropped to my knees in the snow.

"What's wrong Hols?" Darius asked, his voice devoid of any of its normal teasing.

"They're all werewolves." I gasped.

"What?"

"All of them in there. All six of them are werewolves." I said solemnly.

"Don't be foolish Holly. You don't get that many in one place, they tare each other to shreds." Darius scoffed.

"How do you know?" I demanded. "Nobody knows the habits of the Children of the Moon when they take human form. Who's to say that they don't band together out of some curios sense of belonging during the day only to rip each other apart once the moon rises?"

"Perhaps." He conceded. "But six of them? The biggest infestation ever recorded is only three."

"Perhaps we haven't been paying close enough attention." I remarked darkly as I rose to my feet. "Perhaps we have underestimated the cursed ones."

"If it's true what are we gonna do?" Darius asked.

I looked at him in silence for what was probably just a bit longer than was comfortable.

"We need Saskia." I stated. "You go to her, and I'll stay here and keep an eye on the beasts."

"But what if they attack?" He asked concerned, he was the fighter of our pairing after all.

"What?" I demanded. "In the day? While the moon is yet to rise?"

"I suppose." He said in conciliatory tones. "But no going into that place alone." He warned.

"As if I intended to." I shot back. "Now please, go fetch Saskia, she will know what to do."

He nodded his head once, then ghosted away.

I climbed a tree that offered a good view and watched the building, waiting.

It was not long before Darius returned with Saskia and the rest of our squad.

"What does Darius tell me of a group of six?" Saskia asked as she joined me on my branch.

"There are six of them Saskia." I said calmly. "All of them werewolves."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"I wish I wasn't." I replied coldly.

"Six." She mused. "And how many of us are there?" She asked.

"Seven including you." I replied, never tearing my eyes away from that cursed filled building.

"Equal numbers." She said thoughtfully, rubbing her chin. "It will be dangerous, but I believe we can succeed. We have the upper hand after all. We will ambush them at moon rise, they will not know what hit them."

I nodded my head in agreement, still not shifting my gaze.

Night fell and although it was too cloudy to be sure I knew the moon rose in the sky. With the rising of the moon came the howlings from within. The wolves were awakening for the night and bursting forth from their human visages.

"I guess you were right Holly." Saskia whispered as we took our positions poised to jump. "There are werewolves in the."

We all fell into silence as the door opened and a dark shape slinked out, it sniffed at the snow and then at the air before heading in the general direction of the village. It passed near the tree where Simone hid, she dropped down on it's back and wrapped her arms around its neck. It let out a sound that was hard to decipher, and Simone cut it short with a twist of its neck.

The other wolves piled out of the building, all running as one toward where Simone was still tangling with the first wolf. They were going to defend it, but we would defend our friend.

I streaked from my tree and landed on the nearest wolf, my trajectory causing it to flip over. I rolled and regained my feet as the wolf regained its footing, turning to face me with its yellow teeth on display as it issued a primal threatening growl.

I snarled back, displaying my own razor sharp teeth. Our eyes locked and we began to circle, partners in the ancient dance of death.

The wolf was the first to break the pattern, lunging across the invisible circle to snap at my neck. I dodged easily and managed to drag my nails like claws down its left flank, I left a gouge of bloody flesh in my wake and the wolf yelped in pain. I grinned, savouring that sound. It meant I was doing my job right.

The wolf spun around, snapping at me once more, I kicked it in the side of the head and sent it sprawling to the floor. Before it had time to recover I jumped on its back and placed my hands on either side of its face and twisted. It was only a matter of moments before the head came away in my hands.

I sat where I was, breathing heavily although I was not out of breath. I felt elated, I had managed to fight and kill a werewolf all on my own and I had not suffered any injury. I held the head up in my hands, grinning at the immobile face as the sounds of battle continued around me.

The fur was beginning to melt away now, the body, in death, returning to its original form.

I almost dropped the dread thing when I saw those glassy blue eyes stare blankly at me. The girl, barely thirteen at most with her long dark hair tangled into a knotty mess with her own blood. The werewolf I had fought for my very life was nothing more than a child. What monsters to pass this curse on to one so young!

It was this fact, that they could take this little girl and turn her into a monster, that made me determined that all werewolves should die. For they were all evil, they just couldn't help it.

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**Thank you for reading, please, please, please review! **

**You know you want to, **

**Gemma x**


	11. Chapter 10 Quileutes

**Disclaimer: Twilight is owned by the great Stephenie Meyer.**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Minschen, .jd4eva1, We are humans, andwolf, Merina 2, Nikki-Twilight Lover, Black phoenix-2009, Lolly DudetteHaha, Disney Vampire, jacobsonenonly and everyone else who is reading : )**

**Thank you x**

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**The Present…**

A snarl ripped from my throat as I fell into a fighting crouch, my fingers clawed in preparation. I could feel everyone looking at me in varying degrees of shock. I paid them no heed however, for my attention was completely occupied by the young man who had just entered.

Admittedly he was nothing like other werewolves I'd seen in human form. He was tall, very tall; it would not have surprised me if he told me that he was not far off seven foot. He was broad shouldered and so well muscled that you could make them out beneath his plain black T-shirt. His dark hair was long and shiny and it was pulled back into a ponytail. His skin was russet and glowed healthily in the warm lamplight that filled the Cullen's room.

All werewolves in human form, regardless of their original appearance, became gaunt, sallow creatures with scraggly limp hair and sunken eyes after only a month or two of contracting the curse. They did not look big, burly and as healthy as a horse.

If I relied on my eyes alone I would have doubted my own reaction, but my nose and my talent were my two greatest assets for determining what a creature was. I trusted them unequivocally, and right now they were both screaming at me that the boy who stood before me was indeed a werewolf.

"Get behind me, I will protect you from it." I hissed at the Cullens in urgent tones, perhaps they did not fully comprehend the danger it posed.

"Is that Victoria?" It asked in a deep husky voice.

It was glaring at me with open hostility in its dark eyes. Its hands were held in enormous fists at its side and they were shaking.

Why were the Cullens not moving to protect themselves? Did they not realise the danger that walked amongst them? Surely they could smell its feral scent, or had feeding on the blood of animals dulled their senses so much that they could no longer recognise danger when it casually strolled through the door?

_I'll have to take care of this myself, before the moon works her dark magic…_ I thought, as I moved my weight slightly.

A hiss escaped my lips as I bunched my muscles beneath me.

Iron fetters locked around my arms and I was held in place, unable to move forward. I pulled against them but they would not give. I looked around wildly to locate the source of my restraint. Masen held my left arm, while Edward held my right.

They were restraining _me?_

They were protecting _it_ from me?

They needed protecting from the werewolf, or did they think it was still human and they were acting on their foolish hunting restrictions?

"Fools!" I snarled as I fought against them, "It will kill you all." but my struggle was to no avail. Masen was a newborn after all, still flowing with that phenomenal strength. While I, well, I would not say I was weak, I could punch through a granite block should I choose to do so, but compared with other immortals, I was among the weakest. My advantage lay in my speed and dexterity, which could be more valuable in a fight, but not when they had your arms pinned.

I stopped struggling and glared at both of them in turn.

"Let me go." I warned. "Before it has chance to change."

"Holly, calm down. It's only Jake." Masen said in reasoning tones.

"It's a werewolf!" I yelled, were these immortals made insane with their strange diet? "Let me go!" I snarled again. "I have to kill it before it kills us."

"What's going on?" A voice demanded from above.

My head whipped around and I followed Nessie with my eyes as she flittered down the stairs to join us.

"Victoria's back and apparently I'm the threat." The werewolf said with a snort.

Nessie frowned unhappily as she came between us.

"I am not Victoria!" I hissed, for what seemed to be the hundredth time today. "You infernal beast!"

"And I'm not an 'it'." The werewolf growled, now his whole body seemed to be shaking.

"Cool it Jake." Nessie said in warning tones before turning to me. "And what exactly have you got against my fiancé?" She asked, folding her arms.

"Can you not tell he's…" I paused as I processed her entire question. "Your fiancé?" I gasped as my face fell into a mask of shock. "You do know he's a werewolf?"

"Yep." She answered with a nonchalant shrug.

"But he's a werewolf." I repeated, slowly this time in case she had misunderstood me the first time.

"And?" She prompted.

"You are engaged to a cursed being who stalks the moonlit hours looking for humans to feast upon?" I demanded.

The werewolf growled a warning deep in its chest. It looked dangerously close to attacking me, whilst still in human form. Was he insane?

Renesmee half turned to him and placed her pale hand against his russet cheek, and he appeared to calm down immediately. He smiled down at her wistfully and I saw her cheeks rise as she returned the smile, her ever-present blush deepening. My god! The poor girl was in love with him.

When she turned to me her chocolate eyes were wary.

"Ok. Here's the thing. Jake is a werewolf, but he's not a _werewolf, _not like the Children of the Moon. Aro said that we should really call the Quileutes shapeshifters. Because that's what they are really, their other shape just happens to be the wolf." She explained.

"There is another type of werewolf?" I asked incredulously.

Nessie nodded her head.

I bit my lip, I still felt doubtful.

"The moon has been up a full hour yet he remains in human shape." Carlisle pointed out gently.

I looked into the earnest gold eyes and saw no deception there. _They do not change with the rising of the moon, then how are they werewolves?_

"The Quileutes can change whenever they wish." Edward explained as he released my arm, obviously convinced I was not a threat. For the time being at least.

"But how?" I asked.

Carlisle opened his mouth to speak, but Renesmee beat him to it.

"I think I'll take this one Grandpa." She trilled.

I suppressed a giggle, how strange it was to hear the girl refer to a man who looked barely a few years older than her as 'Grandpa'. What a strange mix of family this truly was.

I felt Masen shake beside me and I looked to his face to see that he was repressing his laughter also. Had he been prying in my thoughts?

"They do say a picture tells a thousand words." Nessie continued in a low steady voice.

I turned my attention back to her as she approached me.

"They certainly do." Carlisle responded with a smile.

"Ok." She said as she stood before me.

I had to crane my head slightly to look into those chocolate eyes, how had I not noticed she was so tall before? She had seemed so small out in the woods, but perhaps it was the air she gave off, of being the perpetual child. However she was being a grown up now and I was subjected to her full impressive height. Five foot eleven!

"Some people freak out a little when I show them my full talent for the first time." She said in apologetic tones. "But I can explain things better this way. It's more natural to me than talking." She added with a brief smile.

I frowned, unsure of what she meant. She said nothing else however, merely grabbed my hand and closed her eyes.

I blinked as images suddenly danced before my eyes, superimposed over Nessie's placid face. I closed my eyes and had a better view of what she showed me on the back of my eyelids…

…There was the werewolf, Jacob Black, running with other young men who looked similar to him. It was the Pack, his brothers, oh and two sisters as well. No, they were mother and daughter, first and only females ever able to 'phase'. They ran in the forest, but suddenly they all exploded, and wolves were left in their place...

…_Fursploded._ Masen supplied in my mind, he must have been watching it too…

…_The wolves were nothing like the mangy, flea bitten hell hounds I'd hunted all over Europe and Asia. These were, something else. They were almost like spirits as they glided through the forest, all different colours and patterns, all as big as horses. They moved as one being, a true team of many parts all working for the good of the whole._

_They called themselves the protectors; they kept their village safe from…us. The Cold Ones. We were the enemy to be destroyed at all costs, until…it was a picture of the Cullens, it was a little hazy but I think this was because she was creating this picture from what she had been told rather than a true memory. The Pack had allowed them to stay provided they never bit another human, ever. _

The only vampires they killed these days were any who crossed the border onto the Res, and those who hunted too near Forks, the town we were in now.

These were not the rabid creatures that plagued the Old World; these were the werewolves of the New World. They were the protectors of the innocent. They were guardians, not monsters…

…"I see." I said at last, and Nessie who let my hand go, stepping back slightly.

I looked to my left for Masen still had my arm, although not in anything close to restraint. He let go and stepped away, looking slightly embarrassed.

I turned my attention now to Jacob the Quileute.

"Please forgive me for my rude behaviour." I said sincerely, with a formal bow. "When I was with the Volturi I was part of the group who hunted the Children of the Moon, some of the atrocities I witnessed at their teeth…" I trailed off, shaking the images from my mind. "Yet still it is no excuse for my appalling behaviour." I added solemnly.

Jacob scrutinized me for a long moment, suspicion still present in his dark eyes.

Nessie stood next to him, placing her arm around his waist and kissed his cheek before turning back to look at me.

He grinned suddenly, and it was warm and friendly.

"No big." He said, shrugging his enormous shoulders. "I was this close to tearing you apart so I guess I should say sorry for that." He laughed. "So how comes you look like Victoria anyway?"

I closed my eyes and lowered my head, unsure of how he would take this piece of news, one thing I had gleaned from Nessie's mind pictures was that sometimes the Quileutes would phase automatically if something upset them too much.

"Because she was my mother." I whispered, each word dripping with familial shame.

I waited with bated breath for the reaction, but none came.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him questioningly.

He merely shrugged again.

"Can't help who your parents." He conceded. "Isn't that right Ness?" He said, squeezing her shoulder briefly.

Nessie rolled her eyes.

"Gees, thanks for the compliment Jake." Bella huffed, folding her arms, but I had the feeling she was merely playing.

"Ah you know me Bells. I tell it like it is." He chuckled, and so did the rest of them. "So do I start calling you Mom now?" He teased.

"Don't you even think about it." Bella declared.

"Only joking Bells." He laughed again.

"Yeah, I know." She smiled back.

"So what time are we leaving?" He asked Nessie.

Nessie checked her watch again, "Just as soon as I get the last of my stuff together and pack it in the bus." She said.

It was only then that I noticed that she had changed her clothes. Gone was the white satin dress and in its place were a pair of dark jeans and a dark T-shirt with some form of band logo on it. Her bronze hair was pinned up haphazardly, she looked dressed for travelling.

"I'll just go finish off." She said, kissing him on the lips this time.

Emmett made whooping noises, but broke off from the look both Edward and Bella shot him, but I think they both had different reasons for silencing his taunts.

"Won't be long." Renesmee said with a smile, ignoring her uncle's outburst.

She flittered off back up the stairs.

"Are you ready?" Jacob directed at Masen.

"Sure, had everything on the bus this morning. You know, too many hours, nobody to share them with." Masen sighed.

"Awww. Poor Masen wants a mate." Emmett teased.

I felt a strange fluttering of girly hope. _Masen has no mate?_ How strange I should feel this, I thought every vampire only ever had one true mate, and I was sure Ramsey was mine. _Yes, but you can still have a mate it just won't be all…fireworks._ Another part of my mind muttered. I was slightly confused and I quickly hid my thoughts remembering the two mind readers in the room.

"Course I do Uncle Em." Masen said unphased by Emmett's teasing. "You've never had to experience all those night time hours alone. It's worse knowing that everyone else is." He cleared his throat. "Busy."

"You know what kid, I'm glad we decided to keep you." Emmett said, punching Masen playful on the shoulder. "You sure are funny."

"Thanks Uncle Em." He said with a sheepish grin.

"So you are off on your travels?" I asked casually,

"Sort of." Masen conceded. "Nessie and Jake are taking me to Alaska so I can learn the animal feeding. Also I can learn how to be around humans without wanting to drink their blood. It's all part of Dr. Cullen's rehabilitation course. I'll be acting like your normal human in no time at all." Masen assured me with a smile.

"Does this course work for everyone?" I asked, looking around the room at all the golden eyes.

"It is the safest method we have found that avoids too many slip-ups." Carlisle answered.

"Can anybody enrol on this course?" I asked with what I hoped was nonchalance.

"Why? You wanna come?" Masen asked.

"After some consideration your life style does appeal to me somewhat. I have of late become embittered with the whole idea of killing humans, perhaps a diet of animal blood will quell the anxiety I feel when hunting." I answered.

"So that was the long way round for you to tell us yes." Jacob remarked.

I nodded my head.

"So you're coming?" Masen asked, his voice rising with an excitement that intrigued me.

"Yes." I declared proudly.

_Oh my! I have never made such a snap decision before. This is exciting; I cannot believe I am doing this. I am going to be a vegetarian._ I felt, young and carefree for the first time since my early days with the Child Coven, I felt buoyant.

"Don't you think we should check with Nessie first?" Jacob pointed out.

"Check what with me?" Nessie asked as she reappeared on the stairs with an enormous suitcase in each hand.

"If Holly can come with us." Masen answered. "She wants to learn how to become a vegetarian."

Nessie stopped almost absentmindedly when she came to the bottom of the steps, her eyes fixed on mine. She didn't even look around when Jasper took the suitcases off her and carried them out through the door at the far end. Nessie moved toward me.

"You sure you want to be a vegetarian?" She asked. "Cause the longer you've been a carnivore the harder it is to make the switch."

I looked into the depths of those chocolate eyes; she was merely concerned that I was making the right decision for me. Perhaps she did not want me to suffer, which is most likely the case judging from all that has been implied about Jasper this evening.

I was confident in my own will power though; once I had set my mind to something I often achieved it. I would not fail at this.

"I'm certain I want to be a vegetarian. The only way I can become this is to practice, and it will be better if I do it with you to guide me, than to attempt it on my own." I answered.

"Good." She said with a smile. "Now lets go get you different clothes to ware. Auntie Alice."

Alice danced over to us and looked me up and down with a critical eye.

"Hmmm. Well you got the whole forest spirit thing down pat, but it doesn't really say, I'm travelling to Alaska where it's really cold." She said with a little frown. Then her face brightened, "I've got just the thing." She said, taking my hand and pulling me quickly through the house and up two flights of stairs.

She led me to a room that was dominated by a wrought iron bed. Around the walls were shelves with many books and the discs that held music so you could listen to it without the aid of a musician. She led me to a door and flung it open to reveal a room full of stored clothing.

"I'm sure Nessie won't mind us borrowing a few things." She chatted as she went through the masses of clothes, pulling out a few items here and there.

She handed me a pair of jeans that looked old and worn, but I had a feeling that they were meant to look like this. As I commented earlier I do not keep up to date with current fashions. When you barely touch the world there is no point. She also handed me a very soft jumper in a forest green colour.

"You like green." She said simply, and I nodded, green was my favourite colour, it was the thing I missed most about my human life. The colour of my eyes.

I removed my dress, no longer shy of my body; I had lived with too many covens for that, and pulled on the jeans. They fit perfectly around the hips, snug, but not tight. I had to roll up the bottoms once for they were slightly too long. I pulled on the jumper; it was long stopping half way down my thighs with a belt of the same material to tie around my waist.

"How do I look?" I asked, turning to Alice.

She looked me over critically, but then she smiled.

"Great." She enthused, but then she pouted. "I need to do something with that hair." She said.

"My hair?"

"Yeah. The wild look is all well and good, but not when it's that wild. When was the last time you ran a brush through it?" She asked.

"I'm not sure, what is the date?" I asked.

"January tenth." She said.

"And the year?" I prompted.

Alice snorted.

"So you're a joker too." She trilled.

"When the mood takes me." I mused. "Although it has been over two months since I last had chance to tend to my hair."

"Then I guess we'd better do something about it." She said with a smile. "Come on, we'll go to my room. And we'll grab you a pair of Rosalie's shoes as well, you look about the same size feet."

She proceeded to brush my hair and placed it up in a loose ponytail, and from the room of Rosalie she brought me a pair of what she referred to as ugg boots. Pulled them on, tucking the bottoms of my jeans into the as she instructed. Then it was back down stairs to where the others were waiting.

There were numerous goodbyes said, and I stood out of the way until both Esme and Carlisle hugged me.

"Know that if you wish to maintain this life style there will be a place in this family for you." Carlisle said with his gentle smile. "And if not, we would be honoured if you considered us friends."

I nodded my head with a smile. Who would not wish to consider this gentle man a friend?

"Now don't you go corrupting Masen." Emmett boomed, subjecting me to a near fatal bear hug. "He's only young."

"I will try not to." I said flatly, wondering if my thoughts had betrayed me earlier and had been shared by the mind readers.

"Emmett likes too joke." Rosalie explained. "You should ignore most of what he says."

"Yeah. I was only messing." He said apologetically, but then his face broke in to a huge grin. "Cause if you do want to corrupt him, go right ahead." He laughed.

I smiled placidly and allowed his comments to sail right over my head and as the others wished me goodbye also.

Then I followed Renesmee, Jacob and Masen outside into an enormous garage where there was a multitude of shiny fast looking cars. However they led me to an old Volks Wagon bus, the type associated with the group of people known as Hippies. Masen was driving and Renesmee and Jacob would ride in the back for unlike us vampires they required sleep.

I sat in front with Masen and looked out at the dark road that stretched ahead in front of us.

"So what is your tale?" I asked, as we drove away.

"My tale?" He asked.

"How did you become a vampire?" I asked.

"Oh, that." He chuckled. "Well it all started five months ago when a new girl came to school…"

And his tale continued for many miles as I rode quickly into the next chapter of my immortal life…

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**Thank you for reading, please review, **

**Gemma : ) **


	12. Epilogue Five Years Later

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all my fellow Twihards for having a great taste in literature.**

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The four of us sat around the table in the fancy restaurant in Los Angeles. We had a little trick for these occasions; Masen and I would secret our food onto Jake's plate while nobody was paying attention so it would appear that we were all eating. Although our plans had changed of late, tonight my food would be making its way onto Nessie's plate.

We hadn't been to an upmarket restaurant in a good long while, but this was mostly due to Nessie. At seven months pregnant her appetite was nearly as great as Jake's appetite was. For this reason we had avoided the more expensive restaurants where their emphasis was on quality rather than quantity and they looked at you with disgust if you ordered a lot of food.

Tonight was a treat though, a double anniversary dinner. The Sunday previous had been the third anniversary of Renesmee and Jacob while Masen and I would be celebrating two years of wedded bliss this coming Sunday. I know it is fairly strange that we should marry within a week, well a year and a week of each other, but since we travelled together it made organising evenings such as these a lot easier.

This was also a goodbye dinner of sorts; with baby Black on the way travelling for Nessie would soon be impractical. Her and Jake would be heading back to La Push soon where she would spend the remainder of her pregnancy with all the comforts of home.

Of course it had worried her at first, scared her to death when the possibility first arose. Bella had gone through hell when carrying Renesmee, she had died, it was a mere miracle that her husband was a vampire and was prepared with venom to administer as soon as the baby was free. So understandably Renesmee was scared, and so ensued a mad dash across country to where Carlisle was stationed so that he could administer the appropriate tests.

Our urgency proved unneeded, for as far as the good doctor could ascertain, this was your normal run of the mill pregnancy. The baby growing within Renesmee appears to be completely human, or as completely human as any other Quileute child. It was merely a case of waiting for the child to be born to see what it was.

I do not know the sex of the child, Nessie was asked if she wished to know at her last check up, but she refused, stating that she wanted to be surprised. Given that the baby could come out in one of three forms you'd think she'd want to eliminate some of the variables, I know I would if it were me.

We were just settling in when the blond waitress appeared beside our table.

"HelloI'mAmberI'llbeyourwaitressforthisevening. CanIgetyouanydrinks?" She asked in a falsely cheerful voice.

"Orange juice." We all said as one, then fell to giggling as we realised we'd spoken over each other.

"We have an excellent wine list." The waitress continued, probably thinking our request being a poor choice.

"Four orange juices please." I said levelly, we had agreed long ago that I would take care of pushy sales people; there was something about me that made then not wish to argue.

"Are you sure? You look like you're here to celebrate. Our champagne is quite delicious." The waitress persisted.

I subjected her to a narrow eyed look.

"Four glasses of orange juice. Normally we'd have the champagne, but tonight we're abstaining from alcohol in deference to our friend's condition." I said, indicating Nessie.

The waitress looked to Nessie who smiled up proudly with her hand resting on her baby bump. The waitress nodded her head and then frowned, then her face lit up.

"Oh my god! Ronnie Evans?" She exclaimed.

Renesmee suddenly looked ill as her eyes flittered to the girl's face.

"It's me, Amber Bellamy!" The waitress gasped.

I felt Masen stiffen beside me and his eyes flittered to the girl, he looked away as if expecting a rebuke. This puzzled me for I had never known Masen to fear anything, why would he fear a human girl?

Renesmee had managed to compose her expression into one of mild puzzlement.

"Do you remember? We were at Heartbridge High together."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." Renesmee said coldly.

"Come on Rons, how many people in this world has got hair that colour, especially with them eyes. And I can see you trying to hide there Terrence Masen." She directed at my husband.

_Terrence?_ I questioned with my mind.

_My Christian name_. He thought back. _I left it behind with my human life; I'm Masen Cullen now. _

Nessie sighed as if in defeat. "Ok Amber, you caught us. What do you want?"

"Well I'm a little surprised to see you is all. Everyone back home thinks you're dead, but I totally knew you guys eloped." She babbled inanely.

"We did not elope. We just ran away together. Couldn't take Heartbridge anymore so we up and left." Renesmee said.

"Why did you burn your car?"

"Somebody burnt my baby?" Renesmee exclaimed in a convincing display of shock.

"Ya-ha, police found it half way to the interstate."

"It was stolen. Jeez I didn't mind that so much, I thought good for them if they fancied my car so long as they take care of it. Now that just breaks my heart." She sighed.

"What kind of car was it?" Jake asked in his husky voice, and I saw Amber's eyes widen in appreciation as she took in his muscular form.

"A Camaero." Nessie said downcast.

"Ouch." Jake said, "That's gotta hurt."

"Yeah. It was my first car and all."

"Don't worry, I'll buy you another one." He said, kissing her on the forehead.

"It just won't be the same." She replied forlornly.

Amber scrutinised the way Jake had his arm around Nessie and how they leaned toward each other. Then she shot a look at Masen and I and our hands that were entwined on the tabletop. I could almost see the question in her eyes.

"Oh, god, I should probably introduce you." Nessie said with an embarrassed laugh. "Jake, this is Amber, she was head cheerleader at the school I went to for all of two months. Amber, this is my husband, Jacob."

"Your husband?" Amber exclaimed, obviously not believing.

"Yep."

"But what about…" And her eyes drifted to Masen who still didn't meet her eye.

"We're just friends." Nessie said with a snort.

"Tell that to everyone who caught the floor show at my party." Amber shot back.

Nessie frowned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "You actually fell for that?" She exclaimed through her giggle fit. "Oh my god Amber, I didn't think you were that dense. Hey Masen, maybe our acting abilities aren't that redundant after all."

"I always wanted to win an Oscar." Masen replied jovially, finally looking up.

It seemed that Renesmee had given him some strength to speak against this girl, why was he so afraid of her?

Amber looked back to him, and it was obvious it was the first time she had really looked at him properly this evening. Her eyes widened, I heard her heart quicken its pace and her cheeks flushed a delicious red. I stopped breathing in before the scent hit me.

"But you were really going at it." She persisted, wrinkling her nose.

"It was a get out clause thing that we agreed on before going to the party. That creep Toby was all over me and I'd rather kiss my best friend than have that dog slobbering over me all night." Renesmee explained darkly.

"I'm not trying to be rude, but do you think we could get our drinks now?" I demanded, this Amber girl would stay chatting the whole night if we allowed her.

"Huh?" She frowned, then seemed to notice the pad in her hand, "Yeah, right. Four orange juices coming up." She said flustered, scribbling on the pad. "Do you mind if I ask your name?" She asked. "It seems rude I know everyone else's and not yours."

"Holly." I replied flatly, and because I knew it wasn't really my name she was fishing for I added, "Masen's wife."

"Wife?" The slight rise in her voice gave away her disappointment. "That's nice. How long have you been married?"

"Two years this Sunday. That's why we're out tonight, trying to enjoy ourselves." I said pointedly.

"Oh. Ok, I'll just go get your drinks and take your food order when I come back." Amber said quickly, before moving away.

"Who was that obnoxious girl?" I asked when she was out of earshot.

Renesmee looked questioningly at Masen, possibly to ascertain how much she could divulge.

"Nobody of importance." Masen mumbled, while Nessie looked on with concern.

I let it rest for the remainder of the evening while we all "ate" our meals. I knew there was more to this Amber girl business, for Masen was uncharacteristically subdued, and kept his head low whenever the waitress came near the table. I felt me anger growing, nobody, especially some vile little creature like her was going to make my Masen feel bad.

I vowed I would get to the bottom of this.

We left the restaurant and decided to stroll back to the hotel. We ducked down an alley that would take us onto the next street, not usually advisable in night time LA, but we were two vampires, a werewolf and a half vampire, what threat could possibly harm us.

Other immortals of course.

I had sensed their colours around this city, but hadn't paid much notice, after all we did not intend to deplete there food stock. Had we been planning to stay longer than two days we would have made ourselves known, but there was no point in inconveniencing ourselves with endless questions about our strange life choices.

The local vampires however had other ideas.

"Now I just hate that, when people come onto your property and don't make themselves known." The apparent leader, a fairly tall and slender woman with dancing copper curls, sang as she circled us.

"We didn't mean to offend you." Masen said quietly. "We're only here for a day or two and we didn't want to disturb you. We've just been out to dinner."

"So you're poaches then." The female suggested with mocking grin. "What did ya get?"

I felt my fingers curl and a snarl build in my chest, it took all my strength of will not to attack her. It would be unwise to do so considering the five others who stood around us. Bloody big city covens.

"Soup of the day with sliced toasted baguette, poached lemon sea bass with herb mashed potato and mixed steamed vegetables. And a big slab of chocolate cake for desert." Nessie said cheerfully.

"I weren't talking to you sweet cheeks, I was talking to Mr and Mrs Chalky over here." She said, nodding her head toward Masen and I.

"Oh. You meant earlier. Well, I had coyote as did Holly, Masen had to settle for a couple of desert rats, but that's cause he's a gentleman and allowed us ladies to feed first." Nessie chattered on in the same pleasant tone of voice.

"You ate a coyote?" The red head asked doubtfully.

"Yeah. Oh and a few rats as well. I'll admit, I'm a pig but I am eating for two at the moment." She said, pointing to her bump.

The vampire looked down at it, and then back up to Nessie's face. She sniffed at the air bringing her face close to Nessie's throat.

Jake growled a warning that the red head did not heed. She stopped with her ear close to Nessie's chest and then a smile spread across her face and she straitened up.

"You're one of them coven childs." She stated. "Listen to her heart guys. A humming bird, just like they say."

The other vampires gasped.

"You really a coven child?" The tall dark haired male asked in astonishment.

"A half vampire?" Renesmee answered with a question. "Yep. One of the originals that were found." She said proudly. "I'm Renesmee Carlie Cullen." She stated proudly. "Sorry, Nessie Black." She corrected. "I'm married now."

"Wait a minuet, Cullen?" The leader said with a frown. "Aren't they that weird family who only drink animal blood."

"And have golden eyes?" I prompted.

The leader looked incredulous for a moment, glaring into my eyes and then she laughed. "They are gold. Oh god, I always thought that was a bit of spin, but…vegetarians." She mused.

The four of us exchanged wary glances.

"So what about you mister." She directed at Jake. "You seem human but you stink to high heaven. No offence like."

"You don't exactly smell all that good to me either, leech." Jake replied.

The red head chuckled. "So what are you?"

"I'm a shapeshifter." He answered, we had found from past experience that this answer saved a lot of misunderstanding.

"Wow! So can you like turn into anything?"

"Only a wolf."

"What, like a werewolf?"

"Yep. But not like the Children of the Moon. See." He said, pointing up at the full moon overhead.

"That's cool. Didn't even know there were werewolves." She laughed. "What about you guys?"

The rest of the coven agreed with her.

"Well this is the part where we usually tell you that you can stay but if you hunt on our patch we'll tare you apart and burn the pieces. But I guess we don't have to do that now with you." She said, clearly enjoying the joke. "So I guess you can just run along and eat your rats and dos, ain't gonna do us any harm."

"Thank you for your hospitality." I said coldly, and led the others away.

As we rounded the corner I could hear the laughter of the coven. "Vegetarians!" The red haired leader squealed. "Come on guys, I'm hungry. I fancy me some rich blood. Let's go hunt Beverly Hills." She added in more sober tones.

We made our way back to the hotel, Renesmee and Jacob retiring to their suite to sleep. Masen and I went to ours and sat down next to each other on the settee. Normally our night would entail endless love making, but my mind was too troubled tonight, despite the fact that Masen was already nuzzling at my neck.

"We have to talk." I said severely.

_Can't we do it later?_ He sent into my mind.

"No, we must talk now." I insisted.

_Come on Hols._ He pleaded.

"Terrence Masen we will talk this instant or I shan't let you near me for a week." I stated.

"Nobody calls me Terrence." He growled.

"I will from now on, Terrence. Unless you speak to me this instant."

He groaned and sat up.

"What do you want to talk about?" He asked with a sigh.

"Who exactly is Amber?" I demanded.

"Nobody." He snapped, his shoulders dropping.

"Oh, she is defiantly somebody." I said, observing his posture.

Masen shook his head.

"Please Masen. I want to understand." I pleaded. "Why are you so afraid of her?"

"I'm not afraid of her!" Masen snapped.

"Yes you are." I stated. "And it is nothing to be ashamed of, I merely wish to understand why."

Masen sighed. "Ok. Remember I told you about how I became a vampire?"

"Yes."

"Well remember I said Nessie stuck up for me."

I nodded my head.

"Well, Amber was the one who was picking on me." He said quietly.

"Oh." I said, as realisation dawned, "She was a bully."

"I don't even know what her problem was. I came back after my illness and everyone was making fun of me. Amber was the worst with her jokes of, 'watch he's got a screwdriver.' It wasn't very pleasant."

"They teased you after you were ill. That is despicable, are they all heartless in Heartbridge?" I demanded.

"Gees, I don't know. I don't like thinking about it." Masen whined.

"What did she mean by, 'watch he's got a screwdriver.'?"

"Because I tried to remove the Gardeners head with one." He mumbled.

"You…What?"

"See my illness, it was a brain tumour. It made me do all kinds of crazy crap and I got held behind two years because of it." He answered with reluctance.

"But that is a serious illness. How come I have never heard of it before?" I demanded.

"Because it's not important. All that went away when Terrence died and Masen was born." He remarked.

"I think it is something of importance. I bet Renesmee knows of this."

"Only cause I told her when I thought I was going crazy again."

"But vampires do not become ill."

"Yeah, but I'm talking about when I was a human, back when Nessie thought she was Ronnie. When none of us knew this world existed." He said, opening his arms to indicate the supernatural world.

"But I feel I know nothing of you now, my husband." I hissed.

"You know everything important about me." He said in a quiet voice.

"I did not even know your name was Terrence." I yelled.

"Because it's not. Not any more." He shot back.

"But you know everything there is to know about me. Even if I had not told you everything you would have read it from my mind."

"Only because your thoughts are so vivid. If you wasn't thinking about it I wouldn't be able to see. You know I can only read surface thoughts." He sighed. "Why are we arguing anyway?" He asked.

"Because you are suddenly a stranger to me." I said, turning from him.

"Oh Hols, don't be so melodramatic." He pleaded, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I am not being melodramatic." I stated firmly. "And my name is Holly." I added, rising to my feet.

"Oh Holly." He murmured, lowering his head into his hands. "It's not that interesting, really."

"Do you not think I should be the judge of that?" I demanded, turning back as I was half way to the door.

"My life back then…it wasn't important."

"It made you who you are. It seems important to me."

Masen was silent.

"I will see you later." I said, reaching for the door handle.

"Where are you going?" Masen asked, looking up with concern.

"To get some fresh air." I answered curtly.

"But you don't need fresh air."

"I need to clear my head." I said in low voice. "A walk will help."

"Then I'll come with you." He said, rising to his feet.

"I would rather be alone with my thoughts." I said pointedly.

He sank back onto the settee.

"I will not be long, I just need some space."

Masen nodded his head forlornly.

He looked so miserable that it nearly broke through my resolve, but I needed time to think, and I needed to do that alone.

"Love you." I whispered.

"Love you." Masen said, managing a small smile.

I smiled back, and then exited the room.

I caught the lift down to the lobby and made my way out into the crowded night. I walked amongst the oblivious humans, their scents washing against me in delicious warm bursts. The anger in my mind warmed me further.

Masen and I was not the most perfect of couples, I had no illusions about that, but our arguments rarely led to one of us walking out. But this revelation had left my mind reeling for I had not imagined Masen's past held many mysteries, I'd always been open and upfront about my life. He knew of every dark deed that I'd committed, every torture I had suffered for disobedience. Why had he not confided in me his?

Of course I would be none the wiser if it hadn't been for that heartless bitch that acted the old friend. People like that made my skin crawl, look at the power she still holds over Masen when he was so much stronger than her now. She had made his life hell and now acted as if they were old friends.

She even had the nerve to have lustful thoughts of my husband. I didn't have to read minds to know what she was thinking about him in all his undead glory. But he was mine, I would give him up to nobody.

I had to be careful, my thoughts were making me angry and I was forgetting that I was in a street full of witnesses. I quickly slowed my pace, luckily I had not been going that fast. I needed to be away from humans too.

I changed direction with the intention of heading toward the less populated areas of the city, then I would use my vampire speed and head out to the desert. I knew I had fed only this morning, but sometimes a good kill could help appease the soul. I suppose some vampires like to comfort eat too.

The crowds quickly fell behind me as I reached the darker streets. I stopped a moment, breathing in the scents of the night and myriad colours danced before my eyes.

I smiled widely.

The hunt had began…

**The End**

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**Ok, this is the end, I know it's a bit short, but this seemed the best place to stop.**

**Thank you for reading, reviews are still welcome,**

**Gemma xoxo**


	13. Extra Final Scene

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer is the wonderful creator of the whole Twilight world and all of its brilliant characters. She owns it all.**

**SURPRISE!!! Yep, an extra final scene : )**

**I just couldn't resist leaving this air of mystery bwahaha!**

**I hope you enjoy it.**

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The girl left the restaurant with a frown etched on her face. Tonight had been the worst.

If it wasn't bad enough she was reduced to being a waitress, it was made much worse by serving those total loser geeks, Masen and Ronnie. It didn't help matters that they appeared to be doing so well with their lives either.

_I mean how rich are they?_ She thought as she climbed into her generic rental.

The restaurant was an expensive one, it was $70 for a bowl of soup, never mind everything else they ordered.

_Man they eat like pigs._ She thought, observing her face in the review mirror_. I hope Ronnie gets fat, god look how awful my face is, I so need to get some sleep early tonight I won't be going for any audition tomorrow._

She put her key into the ignition and pulled out of the empty lot, pulling out into traffic. She wasn't a very careful driver, she fishtailed as she hit the asphalt before righting her path in the traffic.

God if running away could get you a rich hunky husband I would have done it years ago. That Jake guy is so dreamy, and my god what had Masen done, sold his soul for beauty? That boy is looking so fine, if a little pale and tired, but it definitely suited him, and his scary wife.

Somebody honked at her as she raced the red light, but she ignored them as she took the turning for Beverly Hills. She was heading home for the night.

Ok, so the big house with it's eighteen bedrooms and lily pad swimming pool and hot tub wasn't strictly speaking hers, but the owners were paying her quite a large sum of money to keep the place looking occupied when they were on vacation. So for three weeks she could pretend, and by then her acting carrier was bound to have taken off, and if not, there was always people going on vacation.

She felt relief as she pulled up the palm-lined drive of the mansion. The house was lit up, there was an automatic timer but a lot of thieves could work things like that out. She parked in the garage and entered the house, she jumped as the big ginger cat hissed at her.

"God, you mangy thing." She yelled, aiming her foot at it.

The cat hissed again and shot out of the room.

"Evil." She muttered as she made her way to the refrigerator and pulled out a big pitcher of nicely chilled marguerite she'd prepared before her shift this morning. She drank a mouthful strait from the pitcher as she grabbed a tall glass and made her way to the little room, which was hers for now.

She changed into her bright pink two-piece and picked up her mp3, placing the headphones on. She picked up her drink and headed out to the garden. The hot tub was already bubbling away and she placed her drink on the edge, along with her mp3 that was in a little protective case to stop it getting wet. She lowered herself into the bubbling water, feeling it work its warm magic on her tired legs. She picked up the latest issue of Vogue and began flicking through the pages absentmindedly.

She took a drink as the dance music in her ears erased her thoughts of today.

She heard something over the quick repetitive beats. She removed her headphones and listened. All she could hear was the bubbling of the water and the rustle of the wind through the palms.

She shrugged, replaced her headphones and went back to her mindless reading.

It was after ten minuets that she suddenly had this weird feeling that somebody was watching her. She stood up out of the water, taking her headphones off again as she looked around, straining to listen into the darkness. She couldn't see anything beyond the pool of light because it had been designed to throw as much of the light from the powerful lamps into the pool area and not the garden beyond.

There was a hiss and the sound of something moving quickly and stealthily through the grass.

For the second time that night the cat made her jump. She threw her flip flop at it.

"I hate that fricking cat." She grumbled as she returned to the warm bubbles.

She settled back to her reading.

But she was agitated now, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.

She got out of the hot tub and wrapped a towel around her. She turned off the hot tub and as the bubbles died away there was nothing left but the sound of the wind through the palms. She felt goose bumps creep up her arms and a shiver ran down her back.

"H…Hello?" She ventured.

There was no reply and she wasn't certain if this was good or bad.

"I know you're out there you freak, I'm gonna call the cops."

There was feline hiss from the darkness.

The girl sighed as her terror abated into anger.

"Damn cat." She growled.

Her head snapped up when she caught a rustling on the edge of hearing, the sound of cloth moving over flesh. There was a rush of air before she could even register fear.

The last thing Amber saw was a blur of red and white…

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**Ok, so this really is the end of this story. I'll be posting my next one up in a few days but I'm still uncertain about the title. Once I've decided I'll post.**

**Thanks again for reading, **

**Gemma xoxo**


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